


Parole

by Kitty_writes_fanfiction



Category: Fairy Tail
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:46:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 26,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24890287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kitty_writes_fanfiction/pseuds/Kitty_writes_fanfiction
Summary: Lucy is used to crazy things happening to her. After all, she is a Fairy Tail Wizard. But having the former members of the Oracion Seis dumped at her doorstep was definitely way out of the ballpark for anything she would’ve expected to happen on a Saturday afternoon. AU in which Fairy Tail’s strongest doesn’t get trapped on Tenrou for seven years, and the Oracion Seis don’t get released from prison and join Jellal. And yes, that means that Wendy isn’t so tiny anymore, she looks like Edolas Wendy.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	Parole

Lucy was rather enjoying the peace and quiet of her (for once) empty apartment when she heard dull thumps outside her apartment. Instantly on high alert, she grabbed a crowbar that Gajeel had made for her to use as self defense and crept towards the door, her heart pounding along with whoever was on the other side of it, knocking on the wood. She reached forward with one hand to open the door and raised her crowbar to strike, only to freeze when she saw Doranbolt and Lahar, both of them looking downright pissed. Lucy yelped and dropped her crowbar, but both of the men ignored her and stormed into her apartment, dragging several large, unidentifiable lumps behind them. Lucy tried not to focus on the fact that they looked like dead bodies, and focused on the pissed-off Council members pacing her apartment.  
“Um…”  
Lahar’s head snapped up. “The Council has made a decision regarding the former members of the Oracion Seis. They’ve been placed into a new reform program we’ve been trying out, in which former dark guild members are placed into light guilds on a sort of parole, to reform them into seeing the benefits of being on the light side. And since Fairy Tail was the guild that was able to handle the Oracion Seis both times they fought, the Council has decided to place them with your guild. Makarov has already been notified of this, and he’s grudgingly agreed to have your guild’s strongest team monitor the progress of the Oracion Seis while they’re on parole. If all goes well by the end of the parole, they shall be completely free, and allowed to make their own choices, which hopefully doesn’t mean they’ll behave for now and be evil again later.”  
Lucy could hardly believe her ears. The Council was making the Oracion Seis join Fairy Tail? And what did all of that have to do with her, and those weird lumps they dragged into her apartment?”  
Doranbolt looked at her, his eyes burning with an anger she couldn’t figure out the source of. “We ran into a few problems, however. You see, me and Lahar don’t really have the time to check on all of the prisoners regularly, so we really only get to see them when they’re taken out for visitors or released. So imagine our surprise when we go to collect the members of the Oracion Seis, only to find them beaten, dehydrated, starved, and in Angel’s case, violated.”  
Lucy’s breath caught in her throat. They had been abused? Instantly, bile rose in her throat just as fast as the anger did, and she glared at Lahar. “How could you not know your prisoners were being mistreated under your very nose?!”  
Lahar winced, and for the first time ever, Lucy realized he was ashamed. “I am wondering that myself. We went to collect Angel first, and found her lying in her cage, bloody from head to toe while two guards drank the water that she apparently only got once a week and taunted her with spoiled food she couldn’t reach. And when we intervened, Angel said that the water they stole was her bath water, even though it was nothing more than a tiny cup, barely even enough for drinking.”  
Lucy felt like throwing up. Sure, she hated most of the Oracion Seis, excluding Richard, since he’d turned to the light side and she found out his brother was Erza’s friend, Wally. But none of them deserved any of this. They were human beings, for Mavis’ sake, not monsters that deserved to get abused like this. But when Doranbolt pointed to the lumps on the floor, Lucy got a horrible suspicion that was only confirmed when Lahar rolled one of the lumps over to reveal a badly beaten Midnight.  
“We’re so sorry to dump all this responsibility on you, but we owe them everything after unknowingly allowing them to be treated the way they have. And we can at least give them the dignity of being healthy when they are presented to your guild. Your master claims you are the Light of Fairy Tail, and trustworthy enough to get the job done. We want you to help the Oracion Seis recover, so they can be introduced to your guild properly, instead of just being sent straight to the infirmary.”  
Lucy’s first instinct was to be angry at the Council for quite literally dumping convicted criminals in her apartment and demanding that she help them. But then she saw Richard, his huge body now reduced to half the size he’d been when she last saw him, his kind face marred with swollen bruises. The rest of the Oracion Seis were in even worse condition. Straightening her spine, Lucy brushed right past Lahar and Doranbolt, and got out her communication lacrima to call Mira.  
“Hi Lucy! Is something wrong? You look upset.”  
Lucy grit her teeth. “Have somebody get Porlyusica from the forest. And have them tell her that if she doesn’t get her crotchety old ass to my apartment right now, I’ll never forgive her for letting someone die by being grumpy. And send Wendy over here, too.”  
Lahar gaped at her, obviously unsettled by her language, but Lucy ignored him and bent down to check on the Oracion Seis. She turned them over one by one, her blood boiling hotter and hotter with each bruised face she recognized. Racer looked like a skeleton, he was so skinny, and poor Angel was halfway naked, and covered in marks. Lucy nearly threw the two Council members out of her apartment when she saw the finger-shaped bruises on Angel’s thighs, as well as a milky white substance that had dried itself onto her skin and made Lucy’s head spin from anger. And Cobra...oh god, Cobra looked awful.  
“Are they aware of what’s going on? Or are they going to freak out and attack me as soon as they wake up?”  
Doranbolt smiled a bit. “They are well aware of what’s going on, and not surprisingly, they’ve all agreed to it. In Cobra’s words, ‘anything is better than this shithole’. I can’t guarantee that they won’t make an attempt to run away at some point, but right now they can hardly breathe, let alone make a run for it.”  
Lucy nodded and worked on getting Cobra’s dirty prison uniform off of his torso, forcing back welling tears when she saw the scars all over his body. Especially the one on his shoulder, from when Brain betrayed him during Nirvana. But all of those scars were probably not from being in prison, and it made Lucy remember just how hard life in the Tower must have been for them. But then she started to wonder. Brain had been a controlling bastard, and he’d forced them to do his dirty work for years. But had he abused them, too? Oh god, that was a sickening thought. The idea that they had grown up in that horrible Tower, only to fall into the hands of another abusive fuck, made her want to punch every stupid person on the Council, especially Lahar and Doranbolt, for letting their abuse go unnoticed. But finally, there was a timid knock on her door, and Lucy opened it to reveal a very nervous Wendy standing in front of a very angry Porlyusica.  
“You had better have a good reason for demanding my presence so rudely, child. I am not to be-”  
Porlyusica fell silent when she saw the Oracion Seis. Wendy gasped and covered her mouth, tears springing to her eyes as Lucy nodded and pulled her into her arms. Porlyusica got straight to work, and it wasn’t long before she barked some orders at Wendy and had her helping with her sky magic. Meanwhile, Lahar and Doranbolt wanted to talk with her.  
“So will you do it?”  
Lucy glared at Lahar. “Let’s get one thing straight, Lahar. I hate you. You took Jellal and Richard away from us after Nirvana, among other things I could list off, and then you dump the Oracion Seis in my apartment, beaten to the brink of death. It’s bad enough that Richard is a good guy now, and he got the same treatment. How do you think Erza would feel if she saw this? After all, if this is how the Oracion Seis was treated, I think it’s safe to assume Jellal would be treated even worse for the things he did, which he doesn’t even remember, by the way. So I just want to say, you better make damn sure that Jellal doesn’t look half as bad as these guys do, or else I’ll tell Erza to take your fucking Council by storm. Nobody deserves to be treated like this, I don’t care what they’ve done.”  
Lahar’s eyes widened, but Lucy cut him off before he could say anything. “But I’m going to do it. I’m going to help them, not beat them into submission like your stupid guards did. And I don’t care if all of Fairy Tail tries to break down my door to get at them for what they did, I refuse to let any more harm come to them. For Mavis’ sake, they were kids when Brain took them from the Tower and manipulated them into becoming a dark guild. This abuse on their part stops now.”  
Wendy yelped behind her, and she turned to see Cobra sitting up, despite Wendy’s protests that he shouldn’t try to move. Cobra’s one eye was trained on her with an almost desperate intensity.  
“Do you mean that, Blondie.”  
It wasn’t a question. For it to be that, there would have had to be some hope in his voice for a positive answer. But instead of answering out loud, Lucy stared at Cobra and smiled, knowing he could hear her thoughts by listening to her soul.  
“I mean it from the bottom of my heart, Cobra. You’re all going to get a second chance at freedom here at Fairy Tail, and I’m going to make sure no one tries to get in your way. So lie down and let them help you.”  
Cobra’s eye widened, and Lucy could’ve sworn she saw a bit of gratitude flash in his expression before he groaned and dropped back onto the floor. But when she turned to see what Lahar and Doranbolt were going to say next, they were gone.  
“Child. I believe this one needs your attention first.”  
Lucy turned to see Porlyusica pointing at Angel. Fortunately, it looked like Wendy had already healed the worst of her wounds, but Lucy could see fresh blood pooling on the floor from between her legs, which could only mean that Angel was on her period. Suddenly, Lucy wondered if she’d even gotten feminine hygiene products, but she decided not to dwell on it too much. She already knew what Porlyusica wanted, but it still made her heart clench with sadness when she lifted up Angel’s too-light body and carried her to the bathroom. Angel started waking up while Lucy was filling the tub, and Lucy smiled at her.  
“Hey, glad to see you’re awake.”  
Angel winced. “You’re...glad…?”  
God, her voice sounded so weak. Lucy tested the temperature of the water, then reached over to start pulling Angel’s tattered prison shirt up her stomach. Angel’s eyes widened instantly, and she started panicking, so Lucy pulled back and let go of the bloody shirt.  
“Shh, it’s alright. I know what happened, and I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to give you a bath, alright?”  
Angel slowly relaxed as Lucy stripped her, then tried to get up. Lucy stopped her and scooped Angel up again, then slowly lowered her into the warm water. Angel hissed at the heat of the water, but she smiled at Lucy.  
“Do you...have any idea...how long it’s been...since I...since I-”  
Lucy smiled. “Since you had a hot bath? Yeah, I’m sure it’s been a while. Now just hold still, so I can get all this dirt and blood off of you.”  
Angel sat there while Lucy scrubbed her skinny body clean, just staring at Lucy’s face. When Lucy finished with Angel’s body and moved to tackle her tangled, oily hair, Angel started whispering.  
“That feels nice.”  
Lucy smiled. “You mean me scrubbing your hair? Yeah, it feels good when someone else washes my hair, too.”  
Angel shook her head. “No, not that. Though, that feels nice, too. But I meant it feels nice to have someone care enough to give me a bath. I never...we never had that before.”  
Lucy winced as another spike of pain drove into her heart, and silently vowed she was going to make sure every single one of them got the caring treatment they deserved. Even if it was the last thing she did, Lucy never wanted to hear any of them sound so broken while admitting that nobody had ever cared to do something as simple as give them a bath.  
“You guys are safe now, Angel. And for the boys, a bath will be a one time thing, but if you want, I’ll give you a bath anytime you want.”  
Angel sniffled, and suddenly Lucy realized she was crying. “But you hate me. I abused my celestial spirits, and tried to turn you into a fucking clock. Why the hell would you care about me!”  
Lucy sat back for a moment, wondering what she could say to that, because clearly, despite all she’d been through, Angel didn’t think she deserved the simple kindness of being forgiven.  
“Angel, I never once blamed any members of the Oracion Seis for anything that happened to me. You all grew up in that horrible Tower, and then Brain took you and twisted your minds until you became the Oracion Seis. You were abused, and manipulated, and that’s not your fault. And even though I’m sure it will take some convincing when I talk to my spirits about this, I’m sure they’ll see reason once they know the full story. So shut up and let me finish washing your hair, alright? And when we’re done, I’ve got some stuff you can use to help with your time of the month.”  
Angel let out a broken sob and just sat there, trying to wipe away her tears while Lucy scrubbed every last bit of oil and dirt from Angel’s hair. And slowly, the beautiful white color of her hair came back, and Lucy smiled as she rinsed it out, pulled the plug, and lifted Angel out of the tub again. Angel managed to get a tampon in by herself, but she let Lucy carefully dry her body and help her into a fluffy robe, and allowed herself to be carried to Lucy’s bed and placed under the covers. Next to go in the bath was Racer, who nearly made Lucy cry because of how much she could see his bones. But luckily, Wendy announced that when she was done healing, she was going to the guild to get as much food as possible and bring it back for them.  
“Why…”  
Lucy looked up in surprise to see Racer’s eyes opening weakly, and she frowned and took the soapy sponge she’d been running over his chest to clean the dirt from his face and eyes. When he could see her properly, she cupped his cheek gently and smiled.  
“Everyone deserves a second chance, Racer.”  
Silent tears tracked down his cheeks as Lucy went back to scrubbing his body, and Lucy found herself wondering if all of them were going to break down over something as simple as receiving a hot bath. After Racer was done and dressed in some sweatpants and a large t-shirt (Lucy tried not to dwell on how concerning it was that he fit in her clothes), Lucy set him on her bed next to Angel and picked up Richard. Well, more like draped his arm over her shoulders and used all of her strength just to avoid dropping him before she got to the tub. He took the longest to clean, but he woke up and started mumbling about love and kindness, which she knew was probably meant to be him thanking her. Luckily, she had some of Gajeel’s clothes from when he’d stayed at her house a few nights ago, and his huge sweatpants fit Richard. She was just going to have to buy more clothes, though.  
“Midnight is ready.”  
Lucy looked up to see Cobra sitting up again and looking at Midnight, who was still totally unconscious. Lucy nodded and picked him up, carrying him over to the tub that was already refilling. Midnight groaned as she peeled off his clothes, and Lucy had to swallow back bile when she saw the blood caked onto his body from injuries Wendy had already healed. Clearly, as the leader of the Neo-Oracion Seis, as they’d called themselves when they broke out of prison and started that whole Infinity Clock mess, Midnight had been beaten worse than any of them. And judging by the way he started thrashing when she tried to pick him up again and put him in the tub, it had seriously messed him up.  
“Shh, shh, Midnight, it’s okay.”  
Midnight froze and let out a small whimper, but then he groaned when she lowered him into the warm water. Lucy let him adjust for a minute, brushing through his hair with her fingers in what she hoped was a soothing manner. Midnight whimpered again and leaned into the touch, making Lucy’s heart ache. He was so desperate for gentle human contact, it made her want to storm the Council’s prison and shove Taurus’ axe so far up those guards’ asses, they’d be puking star dust from the celestial spirit world for weeks. Her head was filled with various images of how she would murder them for their cruel treatment of prisoners as she gently scrubbed Midnight’s body, trying not to cry every time he let out another of those little whimpers. Porlyusica and Wendy left while she was drying him off and pulling him into a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, and then she went out to get Cobra.  
“Don’t carry me. Just help me get to my feet.”  
Lucy smiled and draped Cobra’s arm over her shoulder, pulling him up the same way she had Richard. But as much as she could tell he was trying to get to the bathroom mostly on his own, she was still half-dragging him across her apartment. Cobra surprisingly didn’t protest when she pulled his pants off, but he insisted on getting himself over the edge of the tub, even though Lucy kept hold of his arm so he could steady himself. He all but collapsed into the water, shuddering as Lucy picked up her sponge and started scrubbing.  
“I don’t get you.”  
Lucy looked up from washing Cobra’s hands and frowned. “What do you mean?”  
Cobra narrowed his eye at her. “What you said earlier, you were totally sincere about. I can still hear in your soul that you hate us for hurting you and your guild, and yet you’re still determined to help us.”  
It was true, Lucy hated Brain and the Oracion Seis for what they’d done. But then, these people who hadn’t understood receiving the kindness of a simple bath and warm clothes weren’t the Oracion Seis anymore, were they? The Oracion Seis had been Brain’s pawns, not the human beings in front of her. So Lucy didn’t necessarily hate the members of Oracion Seis themselves for what they’d done. She just hated that they’d never gotten a chance at really living, and that it had driven them to do terrible things.  
Cobra sucked in a sharp breath and turned his head away, obviously wanting to hide his reaction from her. But when Lucy reached up to scrub his hair, a soft sigh escaped him, and he leaned into the touch just as Midnight had.  
“Just so you know, I’m not going to tell anyone about what happened to you at the Council unless you want me to. Wendy was a necessary exception, because of her healing abilities, and I know Porlyusica won’t say anything. And Wendy already knows not to say a word.”  
Cobra nodded and closed his eye as soapy water started dripping down his face, and Lucy paused to scrub some dirt off of his pointed ears. He stiffened, so Lucy finished quickly, and noted that his ears were evidently sensitive.  
“Yeah, they’re sensitive.”  
Lucy nodded and did her best to avoid touching his ears now that they were already clean. Lucy finished quickly, since she could see that Cobra wasn’t exactly comfortable with being bathed like this, and going on a hunch, she didn’t try to dry him off herself. He’d apparently regained some of his strength, because he pulled himself out of the tub and took the towel from her with a lot less difficulty than when he’d been getting in. He also managed to get the pants on by himself, too. After Lucy helped him shuffle over to the pile of bodies already on her bed, he plopped down right next to Midnight and got comfortable. Wendy came back with her arms piled high with food, which of course made Lucy want to cry again when the Oracion Seis members started eating like they hadn’t seen a hot meal in years, probably because they hadn’t. She got some bleach from her bathroom and gave it to Cobra in a small cup, and he didn’t even try to hide the surprise on his face when she handed it to him.  
“You’re giving me poison?”  
Lucy shrugged. “You’re a Poison Dragon Slayer. You need it to survive, right?”  
Cobra frowned and sipped some of the bleach. “Thanks.”  
Lucy nodded and went over to Angel, who was struggling with her fork because of her shaking hands. Lucy took the fork and started hand-feeding Angel, at least until the food warmed her system and her hands strengthened a bit. Only once she was sure they didn’t need any more help did she pick up her communication lacrima and contact the master.  
“Hello, child. Is something the matter?”  
Lucy held up the little crystal in front of her face, and sighed. “Yes, master. I’m very concerned about how they were treated.”  
The Master sighed. “Ah, I guess that means they’re here, then. Lahar contacted me about an hour ago to inform me of the reason behind the mass firing that just happened at the Council’s containment building. How are they faring?”  
Lucy glanced at the mages eating at her table, and sighed. “They’re alright for now, I suppose. But I was wondering if they had a place to stay here in town.”  
“I’m afraid that’s not an option for them, child. The Council has insisted that they stay with a member of our guild. Ideally, they would live at Fairy Hills, since Erza lives there, but since it’s a girls-only dormitory, only Angel would be allowed to go, and I do not believe it would be a wise choice to separate them at the moment.”  
Lucy smiled a bit. “That’s alright, Master. I’ll figure something out so they can stay here. Maybe later, when they’ve been here for a while, we can get a living arrangement sorted out somewhere where they’ll be more comfortable.”  
“Thank you, child. I knew you would do well with this responsibility. And I’ve already informed your team that you are doing a very important job for me, and you are not to be bothered for any reason. I would ask that you call me regularly to keep me updated on their progress, and let me know when you think they’re ready to be introduced to the guild.”  
“Yes, Master. I honestly already think they’ll do great in the guild.”  
The Master waved goodbye cheerily and ended the call, and then Lucy turned to find Cobra staring at her over the edge of his cup of bleach. “You really mean that, huh?”  
Lucy nodded. “Of course I do. If you have the capacity to be grateful for receiving help, you have the capacity to fit in at Fairy Tail. Besides, it wouldn’t be the first time we took in former enemies and turned them into allies.”  
Angel looked down at her lap, frowning. “I don’t want to go to Fairy Hills. I want to stay with the boys.”  
Lucy nodded again. “The Master figured you would want that. You’re all staying here with me.”  
Racer looked up in surprise. “But how? You’ve only got one bed, and a couch.”  
Lucy grinned and pulled out Virgo’s key, summoning her easily. “Yes, Princess?”  
Lucy smiled. “Virgo, do you think you could set up some beds for them?”  
Virgo leaned to the side to look at Lucy’s guests, then bowed to Lucy. “Of course, Princess. Is there anything else you’d like me to do?”  
Lucy tapped her chin. “Well, I’d like to call everyone out and talk to them individually, but it would be great if you could let everyone know the former members of the Oracion Seis are going to be staying with me, and that they’re good guys now. I don’t want anyone to be confused and try to attack them if I call them out.”  
Virgo bowed again. “Very well, Princess. I shall get to work right away.”  
While Virgo got started making five comfy-looking beds in Lucy’s apartment, side by side to save space, she got the bleach from her bathroom and refilled Cobra’s cup. Cobra thanked her quietly and took a small sip, shuddering at what was obviously another boost to his magic power. Virgo finished in another few minutes, and Angel was the first to drag herself into bed and pass out cold. Midnight quickly followed, and Richard took the biggest bed on the end not long after. Once Racer and Cobra had dragged themselves to their beds and sunk into the mattresses with a groan, Lucy cleaned up the table with Wendy’s help and then went to the store after locking her apartment up tight. Not that she thought they would run after finally getting a warm bed after so long without it. But she had to take precautions, if only so that no one would call her a slacker.  
~~~  
Lucy woke up at four in the morning to Midnight screaming. Cobra was trying to calm him, but evidently, nothing was working. Lucy scrambled out of bed to Midnight’s bed side, and drew his shaking body up into a tight hug. Midnight gasped and went still as a statue, and Lucy started murmuring reassurances to him while she held his head to her chest and gently stroked his hair, the same way she would a frightened child. Because clearly, Midnight was having a nightmare about his past, when he was a scared little boy just trying to survive in a horrible world. Slowly, Midnight sagged against her and broke down in sobs as Lucy rocked him back and forth.  
“How did you know to hug him?”  
Lucy shrugged and started rubbing slow circles in Midnight’s back. “Lucky guess. You’re not the hugging type, are you?”  
Cobra shook his head and awkwardly climbed back into his bed next to Midnight. “Thanks for helping him. Midnight has the worst nightmares out of all of us.”  
Lucy nodded and pushed some of Midnight’s hair out of his face, smiling when she saw him looking up at her with teary eyes. “Hey, it’s okay. I’m here now, alright?”  
Midnight nodded and buried his face back into her shirt, shuddering as the last of his tears leaked out. Meanwhile, Lucy looked over at the rest of the Oracion Seis members, wondering if they were sleeping as peacefully as they appeared.  
“Angel’s having a nightmare.”  
Well, shit. Lucy bit her lip, then glanced at Midnight. “Are you okay now?”  
Midnight nodded and sat up, wiping his face clean with his sleeve. “Y-Yeah. Thanks.”  
Lucy nodded, then moved to Angel’s bed, which was between Richard and Racer’s. And now that she was closer, she could see Angel’s brow pinched together in clear discomfort. It was nothing at all for Lucy to reach for her and gently stroke her thumb over the back of Angel’s hand, massaging a pressure point to calm her. She didn’t stop until Cobra relaxed.  
“Nightmare went away. Dunno how you did that, Blondie, but I’m sure she appreciates it.”  
Lucy smiled and yawned, then frowned at their clothes. “Would you guys want to go shopping with me tomorrow? For clothes and stuff, I mean.”  
Cobra glanced at Angel. “Take her. She knows our sizes, and knows what we’d all want.”  
Lucy smoothed Angel’s hair out of her face, still smiling. “Alright then. Is there anything you need before I go back to bed?”  
Cobra shook his head. “Nah. Just go to bed, Blondie.”  
Lucy crawled back into her bed, deciding not to question why Cobra didn’t seem to have any intention of sleeping anymore. And in the morning, Angel was more than happy to go to the store and get some clothes for herself and the boys. Luckily, Lucy had plenty of money to spare for once, since she’d just taken a huge job with Team Natsu and they’d managed to get the full reward for once. She felt much better once everyone was in clothes that properly fit them, especially since they already looked so much better than they did yesterday. If they kept eating regularly, they should be ready to go to the guild hall in a week’s time. Well, as long as they were comfortable with it, of course.  
“Lucy?”  
Lucy looked up from putting away the dishes from breakfast to see Richard standing in her kitchen. “Yes, Richard?”  
Richard smiled and put his hands together. “My friends and I would like to thank you properly for assisting us, to show our love. Oh yeah.”  
Lucy frowned and put her hands on her hips. “What do you mean by that?”  
“Well, we have decided it would be prudent that we repay you somehow, so we would like to express our love by helping you pay your rent, oh yeah.”  
“No.”  
Richard jerked, like he hadn’t expected her to say no. “But...we…”  
Lucy held up her hand for silence. “I said no. I’m not going to take any money from you guys. For Mavis’ sake, you guys were tortured in prison, Richard. And now, you’re members of my guild. Not officially, sure, but in my eyes, you’re already a part of my family. And besides, you’re all still recovering from everything that went on with the Council. If you really insist on helping me, then I’ll let you guys help me around the house, but only when you’re all fully recovered. Until then, I’m not letting any of you do a damn thing, because the last thing I need is you all being stupid and overworking yourselves. You all need time to get your strength back up.”  
Richard’s eyes filled with tears. “Oh my...I feel so much love...oh yeah!”  
Lucy giggled and walked forward to hug Richard. “Don’t get all teary on me yet, big guy! We’ve gotta get you back up to your usual size, it’s making me want to cry seeing you so malnourished.”  
Richard sniffled and hugged Lucy back, patting her head gently. “You are so kind, Lucy. So full of love. Oh yeah.”  
All of a sudden, Lucy remembered Richard’s brother. And Yukino, who had told Lucy about her sister, Sorano. Of course, Lucy wasn’t going to start calling Angel Sorano unless she got permission from Angel herself to do it, but maybe she could do something for Richard and Angel. She didn’t know what to do for Midnight, Racer, and Cobra, but she’d figure something out. After Richard let her go and went back to the living room with the others, Lucy took her communication lacrima and went into her bathroom for privacy, even though she knew Cobra could still hear her. But she also knew that he wouldn’t dare ruin the surprise she had planned, would he. A low chuckle from the living room was her answer, and she smiled as she turned on the lacrima and contacted Milliana.  
“Nya~ Hi Lucy!”  
Lucy smiled. “Hey, Milliana. Do you know where Wally is?”  
Milliana giggled. “Wally? Yeah, he’s actually visiting today! Nya~ Why?”  
Lucy smiled. “Do you think you could do me a favor and ask him to come to Magnolia? I’ve got someone here at my apartment I think he’d like to meet.”  
Milliana frowned. “Well, sure. I don’t know who it might be, though.”  
Lucy smiled wider. “Thanks, Milly. You’re the best.”  
“Nya~ You’re welcome, Lucy!”  
Lucy quickly made another call, this time to Yukino. But instead of Yukino, Sting and Rogue answered.  
“Yo! Lucy, long time no see!”  
Lucy giggled and waved. “Hey guys! Say, is Yukino around?”  
Sting grinned. “Yep! She just got back from a job. Why, you need her for a celestial mage thing?”  
Lucy started to shake her head, then paused. “Actually, I do. Do you think you could ask her to come to Magnolia? She already knows where my apartment is.”  
Rogue nodded. “Yes, but is it alright if we come with her? She is tired from her job, and we want to protect her in case someone tries to attack while she is weakened.”  
Lucy smiled. “Of course. But you can’t tell anyone from my guild what you see here, alright?”  
Sting frowned. “A secret, huh? Alright, we’ll keep it quiet. Give us a day or two, alright?”  
“Of course! Thanks so much, guys.”  
“No prob, Lucy. See ya soon!”  
Lucy’s lacrima went blank as she leaned back with a smile. Angel and Richard were going to be so happy to see their siblings, she just knew it. And now, she had an idea for what to do to surprise the others. Of course, she was purposely not thinking about Cobra yet, since she didn’t want his magic to spoil the surprise for him. Now all she had to do was go shopping, and think about puppies and unicorns to keep Cobra in the dark about it.  
~~~  
“Lucy, what on earth are you so happy for?”  
Lucy giggled as Angel sourly asked her that for the third time this morning. And Lucy gave the same answer she had earlier.  
“It’s a surprise~ Just calm down, alright, I promise you’ll like it!”  
“Unless it’s a damn spa day, I’ll hate it.”  
“I highly doubt that, but whatever.”  
Lucy was still holding on to her gifts for Racer, Midnight, and Cobra, so she could surprise them when her guests got here. Obviously, Cobra already knew she was planning to surprise them, but for him it would genuinely be a surprise, because she had purposely avoided thinking about anything other than puppies and unicorns around him for the last day and a half. But finally, there was a knock at her door, and she quickly called out for them to wait while she blindfolded Richard and Angel, who protested loudly while Lucy ran to her door to let Wally and Yukino in. Sting and Rogue were right behind them.  
“What’s this all about, doll? It ain’t dandy to be keeping secrets from your guild.”  
Lucy rolled her eyes and blindfolded Yukino and Wally. “Shush. It’s a surprise meant for you guys and my guests, and my guild doesn’t need to know about it. Yet.”  
Lucy grabbed Yukino and Wally’s hands and led them into the living room, until they were standing in front of their siblings. Then she giggled excitedly as Sting and Rogue stepped into the room behind her, and she rushed to calm herself.  
“Okay, take your blindfolds off, everyone!”  
All four of them reached up to take the cloth off their eyes, and then there was a moment of silence as the siblings stared at each other. Then Angel screamed and tackled Yukino, and Richard started bawling.  
“L-Little bro! I love you so much! Oh yeah!”  
Wally got crushed in a huge hug from Richard, but he didn’t seem to mind as he laughed and hugged him back. “Oh, man, this sure is dandy!”  
Yukino laughed as Angel started fussing over her. “Sis, I’m okay! Really! Can’t we just hug?”  
Angel wailed and flung her arms around Yukino, and then Lucy turned as she felt a tap on her shoulder.  
“This is great and all, but do you mind explaining why the Oracion Seis are in your apartment?”  
Lucy smiled at Sting. “The Council is starting a reform program for former dark guild mages. I can’t tell you everything, but the Oracion Seis is going to join Fairy Tail!”  
Rogue smiled softly. “I’m glad to hear the Council is no longer being so strict in their punishments.”  
Lucy winced at that. God, if he only knew what they’d looked like when they first got here, he wouldn’t be saying that. But it wasn’t Lucy’s business to tell. Besides, she still had more surprises for the Oracion Seis. She quickly went to her bed and bent down to retrieve the small box, smiling as she sat on the couch with it.  
“Cobra, Midnight, Racer, I’ve got surprises for you guys, too.”  
Cobra groaned. “Thank god. You’ve been driving me nuts, thinking about stupid fucking unicorns so I wouldn’t know what you had planned. What the hell is it?”  
Lucy giggled and opened her box, pulling out Racer and Midnight’s gifts first. Midnight went wide-eyed with shock when he saw the pillow, which she’d had implanted with a special magic that warded away nightmares.  
“Here! Now you won’t have any trouble sleeping!”  
Midnight clutched the pillow to his chest, then turned and dove for his bed with it. He passed out almost instantly once his head hit the pillow, and Lucy couldn’t help but laugh. In the few days they’d been here, all five of them had really opened up to her. Of course, she didn’t expect them to ever really open up about their pasts or what they’d been through, but the simple fact that she cared had apparently been enough for them to at least relax around her. And she was definitely pleased to see the excited grin on Racer’s face when she produced a pair of aerodynamic roller skates, to replace the ones he’d had before they were taken away when he was arrested.  
“I know you can’t use them while you’re confined to my apartment, but I thought that maybe once you guys officially joined the guild, you could start going fast again.”  
Racer nodded and went over to his bed to try his skates on, and then Cobra growled impatiently. Lucy laughed as she took out the last item in the box, a tiny snake egg that was about to hatch, according to the pet store she’d bought it from. Cobra gasped and cradled the egg with his hands, staring as the egg quivered. There was already a small crack in the egg, and Cobra gently poked the egg, caving in part of the walls until a tiny snake snout poked out of the egg, scenting the air cautiously.  
“Holy shit, you got me a real fucking snake?”  
Lucy nodded. “I heard you lost Cubellios, so I thought maybe you might like another little friend.”  
Cobra smiled as the tiny snake slithered out of the egg and onto his hand. “It’s an albino snake, too. Those are rare.”  
Lucy nodded. “Yep. The pet store said he was getting ready to hatch, so I thought you would like it if you got to see it hatch. By the way, can you tell what gender it is?”  
Cobra examined the snake for a moment. “It’s a boy.”  
“Well, what are you going to name him?”  
Cobra tilted his head at the snake, frowning. “How about Remy?”  
The little snake hissed at Cobra, and Cobra smiled. “Hey, he likes it. Thanks for this, Lucy.”  
Lucy snorted. “No problem. Go ahead and get to know him, I want to talk to Sting and Rogue real quick.”  
The twin dragon slayers yelped as she grabbed their arms and dragged them outside, and she didn’t stop until she was outside of her apartment. Sting and Rogue stood side by side again when she let go of them, and Sting frowned.  
“What did you want to talk to us about, Lucy?”  
Lucy sighed and scratched the back of her neck nervously. “I have a favor to ask.”  
Rogue smiled gently. “Name it. You brought a smile to Yukino’s face today.”  
Lucy smiled at him, then sighed again. “Okay, this is gonna sound weird. I need you to go tell the Master that I’m ready.”  
Sting frowned. “Hah? Ready for what?”  
Lucy sighed again. “I can’t tell you that. Just tell him I said I’m ready, okay? He’ll know what it means, but nobody else in the guild can know.”  
Rogue shrugged. “I suppose that’s easy enough. C’mon, Sting.”  
Sting shook his head and waved at Lucy over his shoulder, and she smiled as she went back inside. Now, she just had to break the news to the Oracion Seis.  
“Okay, I think it’s time for me to introduce you guys to the rest of the guild.”  
Cobra stiffened just a little bit before the others did, since he could hear her thought before she finished speaking it, but that was nowhere near as extreme as the others’ reaction.  
“What?! I just got my sister back, and you want me to go on a suicide trip!?”  
“I do not expect your guild members to express much love towards us, Lucy.”  
“Oh no, is that ice wizard going to be there? He’ll freeze me as soon as I walk in!”  
Okay, so Midnight was still asleep, so he didn’t really react, but the glare from Cobra said plenty about how he felt on the matter. And Lucy winced as Yukino started expressing her concern about her decision.  
“Trust me, it’ll be fine. They’ll freak out at first, but the master knows about this, so he’ll handle it if things get too out of hand.”  
Cobra growled. “You’ve lost your damn mind. Salamander will try to roast us as soon as he sees us.”  
Well, that would be why she asked Sting and Rogue to tell the master she was ready ahead of them. But even if Natsu and Erza went bonkers, she wasn’t going to let anyone get hurt. Except maybe Natsu. She owed him a good beating for burning her clothes the other day.  
“Okay, that is a great mental picture of you beating the shit out of Salamander, but I still don’t think this is a good idea.”  
Lucy glanced at Wally and Yukino. “Well, you guys will be there, so that means we have three people on their side. Six, including Sting and Rogue and the Master. As long as we force those idiots to actually listen instead of punching first and asking questions later, everything should be fine.”  
Cobra glowered at her. “You really think you can stop Salamander or Titania if they come after us?”  
Well, then it looked like she was going to be getting hurt. Because there was no way in hell anyone in Fairy Tail was going to make these five feel unwelcome on their first day. Six, including Remy. She’d be damned if she let them take one more painful blow after everything they’d been through. And she didn’t care if Cobra was shocked she was willing to take a hit for them, judging by the way his eye widened.  
“We shouldn’t waste anymore time, the Master is waiting. Just stick close to me, alright?”  
The Oracion Seis members grudgingly agreed to follow her to the guild hall, but Cobra stopped her before she could open the doors.  
“Wait. They’re angry, Makarov’s told them they’re getting new members that used to be enemies. Can’t we just do this another day?”  
Lucy frowned at Cobra. “No, absolutely not. Either they’re going to accept you, or I’m going to Lucy Kick them until they do. Now c’mon, we’re wasting time.”  
Lucy opened the doors, only to scream as she saw a blast of fire coming right for Cobra. Without thinking, she jumped in front of Cobra, knocking him to the ground and screaming as the fire blasted her torso, singing her flesh. But all she cared about was that Cobra was okay, she could worry about herself later.  
“Natsu! Stop it this instant, you’re hurting Lucy!”  
The flames died instantly, and Lucy swayed on her feet as a wave of dizziness swamped her. “Luce! Oh god, are you okay?! Did they hurt you?!”  
Gray punched Natsu in the face, looking more pissed than she’d ever seen him. “You fucking idiot! You burned her!”  
Erza smacked Natsu in the back of the head, then summoned a sword and pointed it at Cobra and Racer. Lucy grit her teeth, ignoring the pain in her arms as she moved, but she stepped in front of them, blocking Erza’s path.  
“Lucy, get out of the way! They’re dangerous!”  
Lucy curled her lips back in a snarl and drew her whip from the belt. “No!”  
Erza glowered at her. “Lucy, step out of the way this instant. They are criminals.”  
Lucy didn’t care that it was Erza she was talking back to. No one was going to hurt them.  
“I don’t give a fuck, Erza. They’re our new guild mates, so sit your ass down and leave them alone before I hurt you!”  
Erza’s eyes widened in shock at Lucy’s harsh words, and she could hear more of the guild gasping and murmuring about how she’d spoken to Erza. But Lucy could honestly care less. Erza knew better than to attack someone so carelessly, especially after the Master had just informed them that they were getting new guildmates who used to be enemies.  
“Lucy, please, Natsu’s flames must have muddled your senses.”  
Lucy sneered and tightened her grip on her whip. “They didn’t muddle shit. I jumped in front of that attack on purpose, because he was going to hurt Cobra. And now you’re trying to hurt Cobra and Racer, without even bothering to think about the fact that the Master just told you all we were getting new guildmates. Or do you no longer respect the Master’s wishes, Erza?”  
The implication that Erza was defying the Master was what got to her. She lowered her sword instantly, and turned to look at the Master for confirmation.  
“Lucy is correct, Erza. Cobra, Angel, Richard, Racer, and Midnight are the new members of our family. And I am frankly disappointed in both you and Natsu for treating them so harshly. This sort of behavior is exactly why Lucy is the Light of Fairy Tail, and not one of you. Lucy has more heart than anyone in this guild, and she’s proven that by being willing to take a painful blow for her friends, despite their history. You should be ashamed of yourself, Erza.”  
Erza visibly winced at the Master’s scolding, and she bowed her head in shame. “I apologize, Master. I jumped to conclusions.”  
Natsu was still busy getting his ass handed to him by Gray. Wendy rushed forward to heal the burns on Lucy’s arms and stomach, and luckily for Lucy, her shirt had remained mostly intact, although the bottom of it was pretty much toast.  
“I can’t believe Natsu hurt Lucy. That wasn’t manly at all!”  
“Yeah, Natsu. Pay attention to where you’re aiming next time.”  
“LUSHY!”  
Lucy grunted as Happy flew into her arms, and she sighed as she patted the little blue Exceed’s head. “I’m fine, Happy. And guys, stop yelling at Natsu. He had no way of knowing I would jump in front of his attack.”  
Cobra was completely silent beside her, as were the rest of the Oracion Seis. They’d still yet to even enter the guild hall, but Lucy was going to change that very soon. She pulled them all inside and shut the doors, then let go of Happy and turned to glare at her guild.  
“Listen up, all of you. I don’t know how much the Master told you, but I’m going to explain it anyway. They’re here because the Council has put a special reform program into place to allow former dark guild members to have a second chance at life. And these five will be staying with me until further notice, which means that if any one of you little shits tries to interfere with their turning over a new leaf, you will have both me and the Council coming after your asses. Am I perfectly fucking clear?”  
Angel and Racer coughed at her language, and to everyone’s surprise, Erza looked scared of Lucy. “I deeply apologize for upsetting you, Lucy. You may strike me as my punishment.”  
Lucy huffed and folded her arms over her chest. “That won’t be necessary, Erza. In fact, why don’t you make up for your rude behavior by making sure to never fucking do it again, and welcome our new guild members properly.”  
Gajeel cleared his throat over by the counter. “Jesus, Bunny, I've never heard you cuss so much before.”  
Lucy leveled a glare at everyone. “I’m pissed because out of all guilds, our guild should know better than to judge a former enemy who’s trying to make things right. After all, Natsu didn’t try to roast you alive when we welcomed you and Juvia, did he? Don’t even get me started on the conflicted feelings everyone used to have about Laxus. And what about Sabertooth, huh? They used to be our enemies, too, and now they’re our closest allies. So excuse me if I’m a little pissed at my guild for being so fucking rude.”  
A snort from Cobra had everybody looking up in surprise, as most of them had never heard him laugh before, and the ones who had didn’t hear it often. But then he burst into real laughter, holding his stomach and wheezing as he fought to breathe normally.  
“Oh...oh man, that’s great! I wish you guys could hear how she’s torturing Salamander in her head!”  
“Uh-oh! Happy, get me out of here!”  
“Aye, sir!”  
As Natsu and Happy made a run for the exit, Lucy calmly drew her whip and lashed it around Natsu’s ankle, then yanked him and Happy back down to the floor. Gray cringed away from the terrifying look on Lucy’s face as she slowly dragged Natsu, kicking and screaming, back over to the bar. One solid Lucy Kick to his head, and the poor dude was totally knocked out. And Cobra was still cackling with laughter, so hard that Angel had to push him to keep him from falling off his barstool.  
“Well, I see this morning is getting off to a great start! Mira, fetch me the guild stamp!’  
“Right away, Master!”  
When Mira came back with the stamp, Makarov hopped down from the balcony and approached Cobra first. “Time for your guild mark, child. Then you’ll officially be a part of our family.”  
Cobra wheezed and slid off his bar stool, still chuckling. “Oh man, if I get to hear Lucy skinning Natsu alive in her head again, then maybe this whole parole thing won’t be so bad.”  
Makarov snorted as Cobra lifted the hem of his shirt above his right hip, and when Makarov pressed the stamp to his skin and asked him to pick a color, he chose purple. Angel chose to get a white guild mark on her thigh, Racer got a yellow one on his neck, Richard chose red on his back, and Midnight chose black on his left pec. Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before the guild broke out into one of its usual brawls, although Lucy was surprised to see Cobra jump into the thick of it when Gajeel and Natsu started taunting him about being weaker because he was a newbie. That fight didn’t last long though, and soon Natsu was unconscious on the floor again, only this time with Gajeel to join him. Even Laxus joined in the rumbling when he saw how much of a challenge it was to beat Cobra in a fight. And clearly, the bleach Lucy had been feeding him at every meal these past few days had done him good, because he didn’t struggle at all as he dodged every one of Laxus’ attacks, even when Laxus turned himself into lightning. Meanwhile, Wendy used her sky magic to heal Natsu and Gajeel, then waited patiently to heal Laxus when he inevitably got his ass kicked. Erza was busy aggressively trying to make friends with Angel, Midnight, and Racer, while Richard tried to help them by letting them hide behind him when they ran away screaming. Yukino, Sting, and Rogue were talking to some more of the mages that had been in the Grand Magic Games, and Wally was talking to Milliana, who’d apparently come to visit with him so she could see Happy and the other Exceeds. But then something unexpected happened, and of course it was because someone didn’t think before they spoke.  
“Hey, if the Oracion Seis is in this reform program, then where’s Brain?”  
Angel, Richard, Racer, Cobra, and Midnight all froze where they were, their eyes filled with fear. Clearly, they had no idea if Brain had been released for the reform program, too. Although Lucy seriously doubted it, she knew that sometimes fear was irrational, and she had to do something.  
“There’s no way they would let that evil bastard out of prison, not in a million years!”  
Gray frowned. “Well people said the same thing about these guys, but here they are. If they can be reformed, surely he can too.”  
Lucy snarled as Cobra and Midnight visibly curled in on themselves. “Gray, shut your trap right now. That bastard is on a whole ‘nother level than they are. They just wanted freedom from the Tower, and he manipulated them into being his slaves. That monster will never walk free again, and he will definitely not walk the halls of our guild. So stop talking about him!”  
Gray put his hands up in surrender. “Woah, okay, chill. What’s the big deal?”  
Lucy wanted to hit him for being so dense. But she was more worried about Midnight, who was starting to shake violently. Lucy shot off her stool and wrapped her arms around him, sinking to the floor with him as the panic attack took over his body and he collapsed against her.  
“Shhh, shhh, it’s okay Midnight. He’s not here. He’s still in high security prison, being monitored 24/7. You hear me? He can’t hurt you.”  
Midnight spasmed as Lucy wrapped her arms tighter around him and held his head to her chest, running her fingers through his hair. She wished that this wasn’t happening in the guild hall, since Midnight probably wouldn’t want anyone to see him like this, but oh well. At least Cobra seemed somewhat okay. He was still visibly upset, but either he was purposely calming himself down, or he was locking down his emotions so no one would see how upset he was.  
“Master, what’s happening to Mister Midnight?”  
Master Makarov sighed as he looked down at Asuka, speaking loud enough for the entire guild to hear. “It’s called a panic attack, child. It happens when someone has painful memories or past traumas that cause them to be overrun with fear and pain. Our new friends have been through a lot, child, and they need our support.”  
Little Asuka frowned and ran over to Lucy and Midnight, where she tugged on Lucy’s sleeve. “Miss Lucy? Can I hug Mister Midnight too?”  
Lucy smiled and nodded, pulling back just slightly so Asuka could squeeze between them and wrap her little arms around Midnight’s stomach. Midnight shuddered and relaxed a bit, leaning his full weight against Lucy as she held him up and kept stroking his hair, murmuring reassurances in his ear. Cobra requested some poisoned tea, and Mira rushed to comply, and came back with not only tea that she’d poisoned, but some drinks for the other three, too. Midnight eventually calmed down, and when he did, he looked up at Erza with a determined set to his jaw.  
“Titania, I want to train with you.”  
Erza gaped at him. “You...do?”  
Midnight nodded. “Yes. You defeated me in battle, as did Natsu. But I want to learn better hand to hand combat.”  
Erza straightened her spine and smiled. “Then I shall teach you! We start tomorrow, at twelve! I shall go home immediately to prepare more training materials for you!”  
Midnight cracked a tiny smile and thanked Erza, then stood up and walked back over to the bar, thanking Asuka as she ran off to her parents. Lucy was honestly amazed at how hard they were all trying to fit in. Cobra was still standoff-ish as usual, but she could tell he was trying because of how he’d joined into the brawling, when he was obviously the type to just hang back and watch most fights, unless he was directly involved. And she was proud of them, all of them, for doing their best, despite the hostility that was still present from some of the guild. But the whole guild would come around eventually. They always did.  
“You sure about that, Tits?”  
Lucy turned to frown at Cobra. “Tits?”  
Cobra flashed her a sly smirk. “According to Sparky over there, Blondie is his nickname for you. Gajeel’s is Bunny, which apparently has a very amusing story behind it. The bookworm calls you Lulu, and the Seith mage calls you Cheerleader. Oh, and Salamander calls you Luce, and his cat calls you Lushy. Since a lot of people seem to have such loving nicknames for you, I figured it would be funny to join the party.”  
Lucy snorted and accepted a beer from Mira. “Yeah, okay, I guess there’s no point in arguing about that one. But as for your question, yes, I’m sure. Some members of the guild didn’t accept Gajeel right away, either. Since he attacked Levy, Jett, and Droy, some people refused to accept him until Levy made it clear that she didn’t hold that attack against him.”  
“I get it. So you wanted to make it clear to everyone that you had faith in us, so they wouldn’t hate us just for your sake.”  
Lucy smiled and patted his shoulder. “Exactly. And it’s the truth. I don’t hold that whole Infinity Clock thing against all of you. You were just trying to get your freedom, and you thought you couldn’t get it without breaking out. I get that. I know how it feels to be desperate to escape a place.”  
Cobra must’ve been reading her thoughts, because he winced. “Damn. That almost sounds worse than what we went through. Sure, we got beat to hell and back, but I can’t imagine being able to have anything you want, and still be utterly alone. We at least had each other back in the Tower and with Brain.”  
Lucy nodded. “Yep. He even tried to force me into an arranged marriage.”  
As Cobra read her memories of the incident, a small smirk lifted his lips up at the corners. “Really? You shredded your dress just to prove a point?”  
Lucy flushed. “Hey, he wouldn’t listen otherwise! At least he left me alone afterward.”  
“Yeah, there’s that.”  
Cobra got quiet then, and Lucy followed his line of sight to see that he was looking at the First Master in confusion. She was up on the balcony, talking to the Master.  
“Ah. That’s Mavis Vermillion, our First Master.”  
Cobra frowned. “First Master, huh? I thought she was dead. And why does she look so young?”  
Lucy smiled. “She is dead. And she looks like that because she was cursed into not being able to age when she was still alive. So she lived out her life stuck as a little girl, until the day she died of natural causes. And now she’s a ghost that only full-fledged members of Fairy Tail can see.”  
Cobra frowned at that. “That’s not a ghost.”  
Lucy frowned in confusion. “Huh? What do you mean?”  
Cobra narrowed his eye at the First. “Ghosts are souls with no corporeal body. But I can’t sense her soul at all. She doesn’t have one.”  
Lucy’s eyes widened as she looked back at the First. “Are you sure? Maybe you just can’t hear it.”  
Cobra shook his head. “Nah, it ain’t the same as Makarov’s. Sure, I can’t hear his soul, but I can still sense that it’s there. With her, it’s just...nothing. Like she doesn’t even exist.”  
“Well that’s just not possible. She exists, and she helped us out at the Grand Magic Games to strategize in the last round. And the Master said that she said herself she’s a ghost.”  
“I’m telling you, there’s no soul there. What was the First’s magic, exactly?”  
Lucy frowned. “Um, I’m not exactly sure. I think it was called Fairy Magic. It gave her tons of abilities.”  
Cobra turned and fixated his one indigo eye on Lucy. “So tell me something. If she was cursed into not being able to age, how did she die of natural causes?”  
That gave Lucy pause. She’d never thought to question it before, but it was suspicious that Mavis had died at all if a backfired spell had given her the curse of being trapped in her thirteen-year-old body for the rest of her life. And considering how powerful her magic was, and how great of a tactician she was, there was no way any enemy had bested her in battle and they’d covered it up as a natural death. So how had she died?  
“I see you’re figuring out my secret, Cobra.”  
Cobra nearly jumped out of his seat, which proved he wasn’t kidding about not being able to sense her soul, or else he would’ve heard her coming. “Sweet mother of-! Don’t sneak up on me, dammit!”  
Mavis giggled and flashed one of her bright smiles. “You’re right, Cobra. I’m not really a ghost. But I am here in spirit. I watch over my guild, to make sure my family is safe.”  
Cobra narrowed his eye at her. “That’s a pretty vague answer, you know.”  
Mavis nodded. “Yep. And it’s good that you’re perceptive enough to pick up on the fact that I have no soul in this form. But like I said, I’m only here in spirit. Think of me as the spirit of the guild itself. An entire guild can’t have one soul, right?”  
Cobra arched an eyebrow. “So you’re only here because the guild is? Does that mean you would disappear if the guild disbanded?”  
Mavis nodded. “Yes, I would. And I would not be able to return until the guild was back together. But does that answer your question?”  
Cobra sighed. “I guess so. I’m still not entirely sure how that’s possible, but I suppose anything is possible with this guild.”  
The Master appeared on top of the bar, scaring the shit out of Cobra again. “That is correct, child. You’ll find that in this guild, there is nothing we cannot do as long as we have each other.”  
Before Cobra could respond to that, a high-pitched scream drew everyone’s attention to Angel and Yukino. They were holding onto each other for dear life while they cowered in front of Erza. Evidently, Angel had landed on Erza’s strawberry cake while wrestling with Yukino, and Erza was about to slam her fist down on Angel’s head. But Lucy caught a flash of real, genuine fear in Angel’s eyes, and that was all it took for her to draw her whip and lash it around Erza’s wrist to stop her from hitting Angel.  
“Stop it, Erza. You’re scaring her.”  
The dark threat in Lucy’s words brought even the great Erza pause, and she gulped when she saw Lucy’s eyes. She lowered her fist, and Lucy retracted her whip and placed it back on her hip. Angel breathed a sigh of relief, and rushed over to Lucy.  
“Thank you so much, I thought she was gonna kill me!”  
Lucy sighed and hugged Angel. “It’s fine. But you should know, Erza would never actually hurt a member of the guild. She’ll knock you around, sure, especially if you squish her cake, but she wouldn’t try to kill you. So you don’t really need to be scared of her.”  
Angel looked up in surprise. “Really?”  
Lucy laughed. “Yep! Besides, if you let her know it bothers you, she won’t do it. If there’s one thing Erza is, it’s devoted, and she’s more devoted to this guild than anything else in her life.”  
Lucy looked up just in time to see Racer skid to a halt in front of her, grinning from ear to ear as he looked back at Gray, who’d apparently been racing him by sliding on his ice. “Still can’t catch me, huh?”  
Gray huffed, totally out of breath. “Dammit, even when you’re not using your magic, you’re fast as hell.”  
Racer beamed, about to give a snarky retort, when the Master spoke up. “If it wouldn’t offend, I was wondering if we could know your real names.”  
Cobra, Racer, Angel, and Midnight froze. When Lucy started to say something, though, Cobra cut her off in a quiet voice.  
“Eric.”  
Angel gasped. “You told them?!”  
Cobra-er, Eric, shrugged. “I don’t see why not, honestly. It’s not like we need to keep the stupid codenames that bastard gave us.”  
Angel frowned. “Well, I guess. Um...I’m Sorano.”  
Yukino giggled and hugged her hard, and Racer cleared his throat awkwardly. “S-Sawyer.”  
Midnight stayed silent until Lucy nudged him. “Midnight? It’s okay if you don’t want anyone to know.”  
Midnight huffed. “My name is Macbeth.”  
Master smiled. “Lovely names, children. Now you can truly begin to leave your pasts behind, and begin anew!”  
Lucy smiled as Midnight- no,Macbeth, smiled a little. “Thanks. Uh, Master.”  
Sorano smiled. “You know, it’s been forever since I told anyone my real name.”  
Sawyer smiled as well. “Same here. I just got so used to it, I guess.”  
Elfman stood up and whooped. “Yeah! Those are manly names!”  
Sorano scoffed. “I beg your pardon?!”  
Lucy laughed. “He doesn’t mean anything by it, Sorano. It’s just his way of saying something’s cool.”  
Sorano relaxed a little. “Oh, okay. Can we go by our real names from now on? It sounds nice when people say it.”  
Macbeth snorted and sipped more of his ale. “I gotta admit, it’s a little refreshing.”  
Lucy smiled and leaned back against the bar, speaking quietly so only Eric, Sorano, Sawyer, Richard, and Macbeth would hear. “That’s because you finally have a taste of real freedom, with no one standing over you and controlling your every move. That’s what it means to be in a light guild. To be part of a family, and to know that if you’re ever in trouble, you’ve got tons of friends who will always be willing to help you, without ever expecting anything in return.”  
Richard beamed. “So much love! Oh yeah!”  
~~~  
Lucy really should’ve seen this coming. But she hadn’t. So now she was stuck on a train to Hargeon, wondering how on earth she had gotten stuck with two motion sick dragon slayers. She was used to Natsu, really, but somehow it hadn’t crossed her mind that Eric might be motion sick as well. She didn’t even know why the Master had sent them on this mission. Okay, so she knew that the Oracion Seis guys were with her because she was sort of like their parole officer since they were already living with her, but why send Natsu, Gray, and Happy? It didn’t make any sense.  
“Hurgh…”  
Lucy sighed as Natsu’s cheeks filled up with more puke, at least until he managed to swallow it back down. Cobra was a little bit better, but he was still sweating in his seat, his brows pinched together in obvious discomfort.  
“Lushy! You gotta help Natsu!”  
Lucy folded her arms across her chest and glared at Happy. “And why should I? He’s the one who forgot to ask Wendy to use her spell on him before we left.”  
“But he’s gonna puke! And just look at Eric!”  
Lucy sighed and grabbed Natsu’s shoulders, lifting him up so she could punch him in the stomach. He let out a groan of relief before passing out cold on the floor. Eric winced.  
“That was harsh.”  
“It’s the only thing that helps him. Laying down used to help him, but now he’s just hopeless.”  
Eric cracked open his eye and looked at Lucy. “Lying down, huh? Did that really help?”  
Lucy nodded, then glanced at Eric. “You can try it, if you like.”  
Eric snorted. “How am I supposed to do that? Salamander’s hogging the floor.”  
Lucy rolled her eyes at him, then grabbed his shoulder and yanked him down. He grunted as his head landed on her lap, but then he relaxed with a groan.  
“Better?”  
“Fuck yeah. Shit, that’s way better.”  
Lucy placed her hand on Cobra’s head and gently stroked his scalp while he moved around so he was lying on his stomach with his head in her lap and his legs in Sorano’s lap. She grumbled a bit about it, but Lucy could tell it didn’t really bother her. Gray, Macbeth, and Sawyer were on the other side of the compartment, and Richard was sitting cross-legged on the floor next to Natsu. Happy, the little turd that he was, decided to take a nap, and decided the best place to do it was Lucy’s cleavage. The damn cat was way too comfortable snuggling up in her breasts with his big head buried in her shirt. Sometimes, like now, he liked to burrow all the way in and completely disappear. Although, it was pretty funny watching how Macbeth and Sawyer’s eyes bugged at seeing the Exceed disappear completely into her cleavage.  
“What in the name of all that’s holy...how?”  
Lucy shrugged. “Him and Natsu are always like this. Natsu sneaks into my bed to cuddle when he’s lonely, and Happy dive-bombs my cleavage whenever he wants a nap.”  
Gray chuckled. “They’re not the only ones. Once Lucy went on a mission with Laxus and his crew, and Bickslow passed out on her chest. Said it was the best damn pillow he’d ever had, and Lucy was too nice to wake him up.”  
Lucy snorted. “Hey, at least they’re good for something.”  
Eric smirked. “Thighs are pretty nice, too.”  
Lucy almost smacked him. Almost. But he was already feeling sick, and she just didn’t have the heart to make him feel worse. Maybe that’s what Gray meant when he said she was too nice.  
“So people fall asleep on her all the time?”  
Lucy looked up when Sawyer directed his question at Gray, but Gray just smiled and looked out the window, apparently not noticing that he’d lost his shirt. “Yeah, Lucy’s cool like that. You ever need a shoulder to cry on, or even just a listening ear, and Lucy’s your girl. She’s even managed to get Gajeel and Laxus to let their guards down around her, and those two are the most anti-social bastards in the guild. And she’s determined, too. You should see her fight.”  
Cobra’s eye opened again, and he snorted. “Interesting choice of memory there, Popsicle.”  
Gray snorted. “Hey, it was funny! You’d remember it too if you saw her go running full speed at twenty guys completely topless, and win. ‘Course, most of those bastards were probably happy to let her win, with the view they got. Lucy’s got the worst luck when it comes to her clothes, excluding me.”  
Lucy huffed at that, glaring at Natsu and Gray pointedly. “It’s not my fault. Either Natsu burns them off, Gray freezes them, or Erza cuts them. Half the time it isn’t even the enemies destroying my clothes!”  
Sorano smiled. “At least they can’t do that on this mission. It’s just a babysitting job, it’s really ridiculous that all of us had to go.”  
Lucy’s lips pursed at the reminder of just where they were going. She’d meant to not think about it, but judging by the way Eric stiffened, it was too late.  
“Oh hell no! Turn this fucking train around right now!”  
Gray frowned at Eric. “What? Why?”  
Eric snarled low in his throat. “The fucking client is a damn pervert!”  
When Gray frowned in confusion, Lucy pushed Cobra back down and went back to stroking his scalp. “Calm down, Eric, I can deal. Gray, the client just so happens to be one of the men my father was considering marrying me off to when I was younger. There were two or three, and part of the main reason I ran away when I did was because I knew that eventually, he’d pick one, once I was old enough. I recognized the name from the flier, but I didn’t say anything because it’s a good paying job for something so simple. Eric here is mad because Duke Coffman tried to rape me once when my father left him alone during a meeting.”  
Gray stiffened. “He what?!”  
Sorano went still as a statue as well, as did Macbeth, while Eric kept growling. Sawyer and Richard looked upset, but Lucy couldn’t help but wonder why Eric was so upset. It wasn’t like it had actually happened, since she’d fought him off and her father had kicked him out.  
“I’m fucking upset because the bastard put his damn hands on you! When you were motherfucking sixteen!”  
Gray’s hands started to ice over as his anger peaked. “Motherfucker! And we’re supposed to babysit his damn brats?!”  
Lucy slammed her hand into the wall of the compartment so hard, everyone jumped, except for Natsu, who was still out cold. “Now listen here! I’m a lot stronger than I was back then, and yet I still managed to defend myself at that age, so why wouldn’t I be able to now? Not to mention I’m not going alone. So don’t you dare take it out on those poor kids just because their father is a greedy asshole who likes younger women! Am I clear?!”  
Gray gulped, and nodded quickly. Lucy relaxed and went back to stroking Eric’s hair, letting the softness of the maroon strands calm her nerves. She really was glad her friends were with her, though. If she’d had to go alone, she would’ve been too scared to even sleep. At Cobra’s growl, Lucy pinched his ear until he whined.  
“Shush. I said I’m fine, so leave it be. Try to get some sleep, we won’t be there until tomorrow.”  
Eric sighed and finally let himself relax, and soon enough, his breathing evened out. A little under an hour later, Sorano fell asleep and fell sideways on top of Eric, sprawling on his chest like it was nothing. Sawyer and Macbeth fell asleep on each other, and Gray fell asleep with his head on the glass window. Richard was the last to fall asleep, and only after Lucy reassured him that she really was okay. But Lucy couldn’t sleep. There was just too much on her mind, and even without all that keeping her brain buzzing, she wanted to stay awake in case Macbeth had another nightmare, since he’d left his pillow at home. And because she knew from experience with Natsu that even if Eric had fallen asleep, if she moved his head from her lap, the rocking of the train would wake him up and he’d be ready to puke all over again. Honestly, Lucy was starting to feel like a mother. Light of Fairy Tail, bah! She was more like Fairy Tail’s damn charity service. Oh, who was she kidding? It wasn’t like she cared about it. She loved being able to help her friends, especially her newest ones.  
When the train finally stopped, Lucy was shocked by how quickly the time had passed with her just stroking Eric’s hair and watching over the others as they slept. Macbeth had only had one nightmare, and all Lucy had had to do was massage his scalp to calm him down, even if it was hard to reach him across the compartment without suffocating Cobra. When the train lurched to a stop, Natsu’s eyes flipped open, and he shot to his feet.  
“Yeah! We stopped moving!”  
Gray groaned and opened his eyes, frowning. “How the hell does he do that?”  
Gray shoved Sawyer and Macbeth until they woke up, and they in turn heaved Richard over until his fall woke him up. Lucy shook Sorano’s shoulder until she yawned and sat up, and then all Lucy had to do was flick Eric’s ear, and he woke up in an instant.  
“Oh, hell yeah, are we here?”  
Lucy sighed. “Yep. Time to go meet the client.”  
“Good. Now I can melt his balls for touching you.”  
As Eric took off after Natsu, Lucy scrambled to run after them, shouting that they needed the money more than she needed the revenge. The others were right on her heels, but the two dragon slayers didn’t stop until they reached the huge mansion the client lived in, and Lucy didn’t stop in time, so she ended up bowling both of them over with a scream. Gray and the others caught up not long after, and once Lucy got herself extricated from the two dragon slayers, she rang the stupid doorbell on the stupid shiny gate to call the maids from the stupid house to come let them in for their stupid job.  
“Wow. That’s a lot of stupid.”  
Lucy huffed. “Yeah, and wait till you see his stupid face, too.”  
“If it’s as ugly as you’re imagining, I think I’m gonna barf for real.”  
As if right on cue, Duke Coffman came out with his stupid chin in the air so high, Lucy could practically see up his nostrils. Eric actually choked on his own spit when he saw the ugly bastard’s face, and even Gray got a little green in the gills, and he was usually always cool and collected, unless Natsu got in his face.  
“Holy shit, he is fugly.”  
Lucy snorted at Sorano’s comment and stepped forward. “Hello, Duke Coffman. We’re here about the babysitting job?”  
Duke Coffman smiled and raked his eyes over her body, and it literally took every bit of willpower she had to keep a polite smile instead of Lucy Kicking him into the fucking sun. Jesus Christ, she was actually beginning to consider letting Eric melt his fucking balls off. Not like they were any less small than him, the idiot only came up to Lucy’s chest. Although, it wasn’t that appealing, having the guy be eye-level with her chest. At least Eric’s laugh was reassuring. It reminded her that Eric could hear everything the guy was thinking, which meant if he started thinking about trying to pull anything with her, Eric had her full permission to scare the ever-loving-shit out of him. The excited growl Eric let out had her smiling much more confidently as he sneered at her friends.  
“What, did you bring your whole guild?”  
Lucy rolled her eyes. “You did request mages. And it’s a job for taking care of five kids, I couldn’t exactly take the job alone.”  
He harrumphed and pushed his stubby little arms behind his back, puffing out his chest like it was something impressive. As if. She’d seen what hot guys looked like, and it was definitely not that fucking marshmallow he called a chest. God, she’d rather sleep with Sorano. Her lips twitched when Eric started cracking up, but evidently Coffman didn’t find anything funny.  
“What is he laughing at?”  
Lucy smiled. “Inside joke. We’d like to meet the children now, if you don’t mind.”  
Coffman huffed again and turned on his heel, obviously expecting all of them to follow him. Lucy made some very obscene gestures behind his back, and Eric trailed behind her, laughing quietly as Natsu and Gray stared at him in utter confusion. Sorano, Richard, Macbeth, and Sawyer just laughed as they took up the rear, and soon they were all walking into a grand central foyer where an older woman was trying to get her five kids to behave. The oldest was a thirteen-year-old boy with a menacing look to him, and he kept glaring at Lucy whenever his mother wasn’t looking. The next kid was a nine-year-old girl who seemed very quiet. The middle children were a pair of five-year-old twin boys that were causing her the most trouble, and the youngest was a two-year-old girl who was sucking her thumb while she clutched her mother’s fingers. Lucy immediately wondered if Coffman was as much of a dick to his kids as he was to everyone else. Even the idea that any woman would let him knock her up four times was simply baffling to her. Then again, this was high society life. Whole lot of money, not a lot of family values. Poor woman probably despised her husband. But just to spite Coffman, Lucy hoped she’d gotten knocked up by someone else. After all, the kids looked nothing like him. The oldest was actually tall.  
“Alright then. Here they are. Introduce yourselves!”  
The children snapped to attention, and Lucy frowned. They were way too quick to listen to him. If he was anything like Jude had been as a father, that meant he ruled by fear, not respect.  
“The name’s Ace.”  
The oldest flashed Lucy a smile, but when she smiled back and the mother looked away, it turned into a vicious sneer. Lucy wasn’t even fazed as she turned to the nine-year-old.  
“And what’s your name, sweetheart?”  
The little girl stared up at her with wide, owlish eyes. “N-Nina.”  
“Well hi Nina! It’s very nice to meet you and your siblings!”  
The twins snickered. “We’re Bo and Po!”  
Lucy giggled. “Aw, how cute! And what about this cutie?”  
The two-year-old gave Lucy a grin full of dimples. “Lory.”  
The woman sighed and picked the two-year-old up, handing her over to Lucy like she was a bag of groceries. “Here. We’re going to be late for our meeting as it is. The schedule is on the counter, make sure it’s followed exactly.”  
Lucy nodded and hiked Lory up onto her hip, smiling at the little tyke. “Sure thing. You better hurry.”  
Coffman scowled, grabbed his wife’s hand, and practically dragged her out of the house, making her stumble all over her dress. As soon as he was gone, Lucy sighed and turned to the kids.  
“Well then. Now that he’s gone, what do you want to do?”  
Ace frowned. “Aren’t you going to go look at our schedule?”  
Lucy smiled. “I grew up rich, sweetie. I know exactly how ridiculous those schedules are, and I frankly don’t care what it says. Now, what do you want to do?”  
Ace cracked a real, genuine smile. “You really know what it’s like?”  
Lucy smiled. “Yep. My father is Jude Heartfilia.”  
Ace’s eyes widened. “Woah, really? He’s Coffman’s biggest competitor! God, he hates your dad.”  
Lucy didn’t miss the way Ace didn’t call Coffman ‘father’. And Nina, Bo, and Po didn’t seem to like him much either.  
“I have an idea. How about we go outside?”  
Bo and Po shook their heads. “We’re not allowed.”  
Lucy pursed her lips and absent-mindedly gave her finger to Lory when she started fussing. Lory calmed as soon as she grabbed it, and Lucy smiled.  
“Okay then. I’ve got another idea. How about we just relax? You guys must not get a chance to do that very often.”  
Bo and Po eyed Natsu. “Wanna play tag?”  
Lucy started to protest, but then Natsu smiled. “Sure, little man. Bet you can’t catch me!”  
Bo and Po cackled like lunatics and lunged at Natsu, knocking him down for real. Natsu yelped and managed to escape both of them, and then he turned and ran through the house, with the twins chasing after him as fast as they could. Ace sat down on the couch next to Macbeth, frowning at him.  
“You guys are mages, right?”  
Macbeth smirked. “Yep. Why do you ask?”  
Ace smiled and held up his hand, and Macbeth’s eyebrow raised as a dark tendril of magic formed in his hand. “Because I am too. I can’t let Coffman know I'm still practicing though. He’d be super mad. He says mages are filthy, and their guilds are nothing more than a place to drink and find chicks to bang.”  
Lucy frowned at his choice of words, but Macbeth just started laughing. “Listen, kid, I’ll be honest with you. Your dad is stupid.”  
Ace stiffened. “He’s not my dad.”  
Macbeth shrugged. “Alright then. Let’s call him bastard. That bastard is stupid.”  
Ace snorted. “Wow. That’s a lot better. But even if he is stupid, why do you think so?”  
Macbeth shrugged. “‘Cause I’m in a guild. You know, I used to be in a dark guild. Now those are bad news. But a light guild? Never thought I’d say it, but I actually like it. You get a lot of freedom, and a whole lot of friends.”  
Ace went bug-eyed. “You were in a dark guild?”  
Macbeth grinned. “Yep. A real strong one, too. But it wasn’t what I thought it would be at all. You should think about joining a guild someday. It’d be the perfect fuck-you to your father.”  
Ace snorted. “I’m definitely joining one, then. How old do I have to be?”  
Gray snorted. “There’s no age requirement at Fairy Tail, kid. I joined when I was younger than you.”  
Ace beamed. “Really? Is that the guild you’re from?”  
Lucy held out the hand with her guild mark. “Mhm. And I’m glad to hear you’re liking the guild so much, Macbeth. I’ll have to give you a reward later.”  
Macbeth flushed. “Oi, why you gotta make it sound dirty?!”  
Lucy smacked him upside the head. “It’s not dirty! I was talking about cupcakes, you dolt!”  
Nina whimpered. “P-Please don’t argue.”  
Everyone went silent, and Lucy leaned forward and scooped the little girl into her arms, placing her on her lap next to Lory. “Sweetheart, are you okay?”  
Nina whimpered. “I don’t like arguing. It’s loud and scary.”  
Lucy frowned. “Nina, do your parents argue often?”  
Nina nodded, and then the next words out of her mouth made all hell break loose in Lucy’s brain. “Daddy hits Mommy. And he hits Ace, too. Says Ace and Mommy are filthy mages.”  
A dark glare crossed Lucy’s face, and she looked at Sorano. “Hold the kids.”  
Lucy passed them to her without looking to see if Sorano was okay with it, and jammed her hand into her bag to retrieve her communication lacrima. As soon as she started contacting the Master, her hands started shaking so badly the image blurred.  
“Child? Child, what on earth is wrong? The image is shaking!”  
Lucy grit her teeth and forced her hands to still. “Master, we have a problem with this job.”  
“What on earth is it?”  
“Our client abuses his wife and one of his children. What do I do?”  
The Master’s voice grew louder as he grew into his giant form. “WHAT?!”  
Lucy nodded. “One of the kids admitted she sees her parents arguing and that her father hits her mother and his oldest son. Master, I can’t leave these kids with him. The oldest is a mage, and I can sense magic energy in some of the others, too.”  
Makarov sounded absolutely terrifying on the other end. “Complete the job. And once you’ve collected the money, Lahar and Doranbolt will show up to take care of him. Then I want you to take those children and bring them back to the guild with you. No children shall ever be harmed on my watch!”  
Lucy smiled and nodded. “I had a feeling you’d say that, Master. Thank you.”  
When she came back into the foyer, Eric was growling. “He hurt them?”  
Lucy nodded. “Yes, he did. Master wants us to-”  
“Yeah, I heard. Please let me scare him. Just a little bit.”  
Lucy donned a sinister smirk. “Oh, I was already going to let you. And Macbeth. You two make quite the lovely duo when you want to scare someone.”  
Eric grinned and ran over to whisper in Macbeth’s ear, while Lucy took Nina back from Sorano. “Hey Nina! How would you like it if you didn’t have to see your daddy hit your mommy anymore?”  
Nina lit up. “You can make him stop?”  
Lucy smirked. “I can do more than that, sweetie. In fact, we’re going to get evidence that he hurts Ace and your mommy, and have him arrested.”  
Ace stood up. “Evidence, huh? I got your evidence right here.”  
Ace grabbed the hem of his shirt and started pulling it up, revealing a whole array of scars no thirteen-year-old should have. But the look on his face stopped Lucy from just taking her camera out and taking pictures.  
“Ace, sweetie. Are you okay?”  
Ace looked down at his feet. “I know I look horrible. But if it’ll get that bastard away from my siblings, I’ll do what I have to.”  
Lucy frowned at Ace. “Sweetie, you don’t look horrible. Hey, look at me.”  
Ace looked up slowly, his eyes watery with tears. “Scars don’t define who you are. You know, I’ve got scars too.”  
Ace frowned. “No way! You’re a girl!”  
Lucy snorted. “Girls can have scars too. Scars mean you’re strong! See, every time you get hurt real bad, you get a scar, right?”  
Ace nodded, wiping at his face with his hand. “Yeah. Why do you say that like it’s a good thing?”  
Lucy smiled at him. “Because you survived, didn’t you? If you get injured, and you survive, that means you’re strong. And scars are just a visible reminder of how strong you are, how many times you’ve gotten hurt and still lived to see another day.”  
Ace smiled a bit. “Yeah, but I bet nobody’s got as many scars as me.”  
Eric snorted. “I doubt that, kid.”  
Ace rolled his eyes. “Oh, yeah? Who then?”  
Eric stared at him for a moment, then grabbed his shirt and pulled it over his own head. He stood up, letting Ace see the scars all over his chest and stomach and arms, and then he turned to reveal even more scars on his back, twice as many as Ace had.  
“Me.”  
Ace gasped, then reached up to touch one particularly large scar on Eric’s lower back. Eric turned around and squatted in front of the kid, his lips pulled up in a small smile.  
“I know it might feel like no one has it as bad as you, but there are other people out there who suffer just as much, if not more. Hell, it’s why Macbeth over there likes being in a light guild so much. Even if you still suffer from time to time, you’ve got a whole bunch of people around who are willing to hold you up so you can keep fighting. And their support makes you stronger. It’s all about the heart, kid. That’s the true key to getting to be a powerful mage.”  
Eric tapped Ace’s chest, right over his heart, and Ace puffed up his chest a little. Eric smiled and straightened to his full height, and Ace looked up at him like he’d found an angel.  
“What kind of magic do you use?”  
Eric smirked at that. “Poison Dragon Slaying magic.”  
Ace went bug-eyed. “Woah! Poison? That’s so cool!”  
Lucy left Eric to talk to his new admirer, while she took Lory to go change the kid’s diaper. At least these kids were getting out of here. That was at least something she could look forward to.  
~~~  
Later that night, Lucy found herself lying awake instead of sleeping again. She was in a large bedroom, with Lory asleep on her chest, Ace asleep next to her with his back turned to her, Nina asleep on her stomach, and Po and Bo clinging to her legs like little gremlins while they snored away. Sorano was asleep on her other side, with absolutely no kids on her for some reason that was totally unknown to Lucy. Eric, Richard, Sawyer, Macbeth, Natsu, and Gray were asleep in another room, probably all asleep by now. But this time, Lucy wasn’t awake because she had a lot on her mind. Something was wrong, she could feel it. She kept getting this urge to go and wake up the boys, but the rational side of her told her she was overreacting. Besides, if she moved, she’d wake up the kids, and that would be-  
*crack*  
Lucy froze. She slowly turned her head to the side just in time to see the glass shatter in their room, and then several men rushed in and grabbed her, holding her mouth shut and her body to the bed while she scratched and bit, trying to avoid thrashing to keep the kids safe. Lucy screamed around the man’s hand as they picked up Sorano and tossed her outside, and then they took the kids. C’mon, there were two dragon slayers in the house, hadn’t they heard the glass shatter? Wait...Eric! Lucy closed her eyes and started screaming in her head, trying to focus on Eric so he would hear it even in his sleep. There was a shout in the other room, and then more shouting as Lucy was wrangled out the window and into a van next to Sorano and the kids. The men let go of her mouth for a moment to tie her up, and she screamed as she saw Eric run into the room just as the door slammed shut and the van’s tires squealed. Some of the men had stayed back to fight her friends, but they wouldn’t last long. Lucy grunted as she shimmied her way over to Sorano, who was now very much awake and very much panicking.  
“Shh, it’s okay. They’ll save us, don’t worry.”  
Ace grunted as he woke up, and then he shouted. “What the f-”  
“Ace! Shh!”  
Ace whipped around as much as he could with his hands tied behind his back. “Miss Lucy? What’s going on?”  
“We were kidnapped. Our friends are going to save us, don’t worry.”  
Nina whimpered and kicked herself around so she could see Lucy. “M-Miss Lucy, I’m scared.”  
Lucy scooted forward so Nina could lay her head on Lucy’s lap. “I know you are, but we’ll be okay.”  
“O-Okay, I trust you.”  
Sorano shifted uncomfortably. “How are you so calm?”  
Lucy snorted. “This isn’t the first time I’ve been kidnapped. And trust me, Fairy Tail will always fight for their own. They’ll find us, and they’ll get us out. We just have to stay strong until then.”  
Sorano nodded, but Lucy had a feeling she wasn’t really okay. This shit probably reminded her of her time in prison, or maybe even when she was taken to the Tower. And that was when she knew she had to keep fighting.  
“Eric...can you hear me? Sorano and the kids are scared. Please, if you can hear me, follow my voice. I’ll keep it up for as long as I can, so you can find me.”  
There was a roar in the distance, and Lucy smiled. Dragon Slayer Roar. Leaning her head back and closing her eyes, Lucy began singing in her mind, putting some of her magic into her mental voice to give it more strength. She was aware that she started to glow as she sang, and she merely hoped it would soothe Sorano and the children. But as their whimpering got louder the farther they went, she started singing out loud, and put more power into her mental voice. There was another roar in the distance, and she could hear the driver’s cursing up ahead. Lucy kept singing, smiling gently as she heard Sorano and the kids calming down to listen. Lucy kept her voice strong and calm, knowing that they were relying on her for strength. Her magic surged as she felt Eric reaching out to her, and she tipped her head back as her eyes shot open. Somehow, she managed to keep singing, but then she felt Macbeth and Natsu and Gray reaching out to her, and somewhere nearby, she could hear Sawyer shouting as he raced alongside the van. Wait, how did she hear that? Her back arched as her magic swelled again, and she increased the power of her song once more. Then, something miraculous happened.  
“I hear you, Lucy. And I’m coming. Just keep singing.”  
Lucy smiled, and Sorano started whispering. “What happened? Where did all of that magic power come from?”  
Lucy kept the song up in her head, and turned to look at Sorano. “I was calling out to Eric and the others. And he heard me. I told you they would come.”  
Just as her mood really started to lift, there was a loud explosion somewhere behind the van, and she heard Sawyer scream. And just like that, the connection she’d felt with everyone disappeared, as if it had been silenced on their end.  
“No! No, no, no!”  
Sorano leaned forward. “What? What happened?”  
“I lost them! I can’t feel them anymore!”  
Sorano’s eyes widened. “Well they wouldn’t just give up! We have to keep trying!”  
The van picked up speed, and Lucy grit her teeth, about to try again when a partition opened and someone hit her in the face. Everything went black, and she heard Sorano scream as she collapsed.  
~~~  
Eric had never been more upset in his life. He’d had a bad feeling about this mission from the moment he’d heard Lucy thinking about the Duke’s actions. And now Lucy, Sorano, and the Duke’s kids were gone. He and Sawyer had been chasing after them, trying to keep up with the van, and Sawyer had pulled ahead to stay with it. And as he’d fallen behind, he’d paused to take out some of the men that were literally fucking everywhere surrounding the mansion. And then he’d heard it. Lucy’s voice, calling out to him deliberately so his Soul Listening magic would hear it.  
“Eric...can you hear me? Sorano and the kids are scared. Please, if you can hear me, follow my voice. I’ll keep it up for as long as I can, so you can find me.”  
She’d started singing, her voice the most beautiful melody he’d ever heard in his entire life, and it had filled him with a kind of strength he’d never known before. And that was when he knew what the power was that Fairy Tail talked so much about. That power of friendship that he’d called bullshit on before. But now he knew it was real. He locked onto Lucy’s soul, let her know he heard her, and ran harder than he’d ever run in his life, so hard that he heard Sawyer shouting in surprise when Eric actually overtook him. He was about to grab onto the handles on the back of the van when an explosion had blasted him and Sawyer away, and he’d been knocked unconscious. And now he was waking up in the guild’s infirmary, and nobody would look him in the eye when he asked about Lucy and Sorano. Sawyer, Macbeth, and Richard were in the infirmary with him, wrapped in bandages from the fighting and the explosions. He was the only one who’d recovered quickly, and only because they could just poison him with random chemicals to heal his body, but he was so pissed at getting knocked out that he couldn't focus enough to hear anyone's souls at first. Gray was in the corner when he woke up with Mira, Wendy, and Porlyusica standing over him, and Gray had stayed when he’d shouted at them to get the hell out if they weren’t going to give him any answers.  
“No. They didn’t catch the van. Lucy, Sorano, and the kids are gone. We lost them.”  
Eric screamed and threw a chair across the room, nearly hitting Erza when she walked in. “Eric! Calm yourself!”  
Eric pointed a finger at Erza, his entire body and his voice shaking with rage. “Don’t you tell me to fucking calm down! Sorano has been my friend since the tower and she’s gone! And Lucy was the only fucking one out of all of you fairies that really believed in me and the others when nobody else fucking did! And she’s gone too! Not to mention those damn kids, who were looking forward to joining Fairy Tail, and getting away from their shitty father!”  
Erza backed up at the sheer amount of pain in his voice, and he screamed and threw another chair, kicking it across the room in his frustration. Gray just sat there, with a bandage around his torso and the most broken look on his face. Clearly, he was torn up about it, too. But not about Sorano or the kids. He was upset about the kids, sure, but he was mostly upset about Lucy. He shouldn’t be surprised, but it made him angrier. Lucy really was the only one in this whole damn guild who cared about them, except for maybe Makarov. Everyone else was still ‘getting used to having criminals in the guild’. Yeah, well, screw them. He’d show them exactly what a criminal was capable of. He was going to get Sorano and Lucy back, and those kids.  
“Eric? Eric, where are you going?!”  
“Out.”  
He ignored Titania as he stormed out of the guild, not bothering to acknowledge the dragon slayers following him until he was a good two hours into the forest. Then his frustration got the better of him, and he stopped, punching his arm straight out into a tree and enjoying the loud crack as it split and fell over. And then he turned to stare at Laxus, Gajeel, Salamander, and Wendy.  
“What the hell are you following me for?”  
Natsu growled. “We’re getting our guild mates back. That’s where you’re going, right?”  
Eric curled his lip. “I don’t need your help.”  
“And if they’re hurt? You gonna carry five kids and two women back to the guild by yourself?”  
Okay, he had to admit, that was pretty stupid of him to not think of. Not that he was going to admit that to Spark Plug over there.  
“Think about it, dumbass. Four dragon slayers on one team? There’s no way we’ll fail.”  
“Make that seven, asshole.”  
Eric glanced up to see Sting and Rogue, the twins from Sabertooth that had been with Sorano’s sister. “The fuck are you two doing here?”  
Rogue grunted. “Yukino said she sensed her sister was in danger. When we went to your guild hall, Mira told us that all the dragon slayers had left in a rush, heading to the east.”  
Eric growled. “Fine. Don’t fucking get in my way.”  
His eyes softened when he looked at Wendy. “Except for you. I don’t object to your presence here, little healer.”  
As Eric turned away, he heard quite the chorus of curse words coming from the other males concerning his little comment. But he had to give it to them, they were loyal bastards. Natsu wasn’t just dead-set on saving Lucy, he was fucking determined to help save Sorano so that he could get on Eric’s good side and Lucy would forgive him for trying to attack them earlier. Gajeel was mostly pissed because his stupid Bunny had gotten herself kidnapped again, and no one was allowed to kidnap her but him, whatever the hell that meant. But he was also pissed beyond belief that someone had dared to kidnap one of the newest members of his guild before she’d even gotten a chance to hear him sing. Again, not a damn clue what that meant, but whatever. Wendy was concerned about everyone, precious little shit that she was, and Laxus was pissed because he knew how much Sorano meant to Lucy, and because Lucy was like his little sister, even if she didn’t know it. Sting and Rogue were worried about Sorano, because she was Yukino’s sister, but also Lucy because of all she’d done for them and their guild, especially for helping Yukino. And of course, Eric knew his own motivations. Sorano was like a little sister to him, she always had been. And Lucy...he was going to hear that song in her soul again, if it was the last godforsaken thing he did.  
~~~  
Lucy woke up in chains. And even then, her first thought wasn’t to escape, but to see where Sorano and the others were. But she couldn’t see anything, because her eyes were still closed and she hadn't yet taken stock of her surroundings. And she didn’t dare call out for them yet, because she had no idea if someone was watching to see when she woke up. So she waited.  
“The blonde still hasn’t woken up?”  
“Nope. And the Master says we can’t start torturing them until they’re all awake. It’s been pretty fun watching those kids cry and beg her to help them, though.”  
Lucy’s breath hitched. The kids had been begging for her help? Were they in here? Why couldn’t she hear them?  
“Ugh…”  
“Oh look, he’s awake again.”  
Lucy knew that voice. Ace was awake.  
“What the hell do you want from us?”  
The man chuckled, and a sharp slap echoed through the room, making Lucy’s blood boil. “As for you and your siblings, our Master is going to have your daddy pay quite the pretty penny to get you all back. After all, as a man of such high status, he would look bad if he didn’t pay the money to get you all back. And we’ll charge him for each one of your brats.”  
“And them?”  
There was a lower chuckle, with a bit of heat Lucy recognized behind it. “Personally, I’m glad they were sleeping in the same room as all of you. Makes our job much easier, and we get some nice new toys to play with.”  
Sorano whimpered, and Lucy zeroed in on the sound. Sorano was to her left, and Ace was somewhere in front of her and to the right. And as she did a quick scan of her own bodies, she realized that the stupid idiots who’d kidnapped them hadn’t even bothered to take her keys. Lucy waited until the door closed and Ace started screaming for the bastards to come back to make her move. She moved her arm to her side and touched her finger to Leo’s key, speaking to him without summoning him, as she had done many times before.  
“Find Eric. Lead him to me.”  
Leo responded almost immediately, sounding both suspicious and very relieved to hear her voice. “Why him? Why not Natsu?”  
“Knowing Natsu, he'll be there, too. But find them and whoever they’re with, and lead them here.”  
“You got it, Lucy.”  
Lucy sighed, only to freeze when the door opened again. Dropping the act, she sat up slowly, keeping her head down as if she was feeling weak.  
“Oh, look here boys, the pretty little blonde is awake. The boss will be happy.”  
Lucy set her jaw and lifted her head, satisfied when the two men stepped back a little at her intensity.  
“You’re in trouble. Every last one of you.”  
One of them scoffed. “Ha! Quit bluffing, blondie, we already took out all your stupid friends.”  
“Are you familiar with the guild Fairy Tail?”  
One of them frowned. “The strongest light guild in Fiore? Yeah, why?”  
Lucy lifted her hand, the one with her guild mark, and smirked. “You fucked up royally, buddy. Fairy Tail’s strongest will come calling once they find out you’ve stolen two of their own. And if you really think it would be that easy to put Eric and Natsu out of commission, you’ve lost your damn minds. You just got lucky.”  
“Whatever! They can’t be all that scary!”  
“Natsu is a Fire Dragon Slayer. Eric is a Poison Dragon Slayer. You really think your pathetic guild can handle two Dragon Slayers, let alone two pissed ones?”  
That made him falter. “D-Dragon slayers?”  
“Yep. And I happen to be rather close to both of them. Sorano over there is even closer to Eric. Like I said, you royally fucked up.”  
“We gotta tell the boss.”  
“No way! What if she’s bluffing? You go tell boss, I’ll stay here and shut them up.”  
“Got it.”  
The man who stayed behind picked up a crowbar and started walking towards Sorano, who immediately screamed and scrambled back. Lucy lunged forward, yanking at her chains as she blocked Sorano’s body.  
“No! You fucking asshole, if you want to beat somebody, beat me!”  
“Fine then, bitch!”  
The crowbar came down on her right shoulder, and Lucy cried out as she felt the arm pop out of alignment. She crawled back towards her spot, drawing him away from Sorano, and cried out as the iron bar came down yet again, this time on her left ankle. Another crunch, another scream. And then Leo’s key glowed.  
“Hang in there, Lucy. They’re on the way. I can’t give them your exact location, because this place is messing with my senses, but I gave them the location of the building, and they’re going to bust you out.”  
“O...kay…”  
Leo’s answer was totally lost to her as she let out another scream, but she forced herself to gather her magic again. If they were coming for her, she needed to help them out. Because if they stormed the place while this guy was still here, he might just kill everyone just to spite them.  
“ERIC!! I’M HERE!!!”  
Her soul latched onto Eric’s so forcefully, she felt him stumble before he kept running. She had no idea how she’d done it, but she’d heard his soul, heard his relief at hearing her voice, and his horror at feeling her pain. And he started running faster, ignoring the shouts of the others behind him. And it was more than just Natsu. She could feel Natsu, Gajeel, Laxus, Wendy, and even Sting and Rogue. And the thought of seven dragon slayers coming to their rescue had her laughing, and she didn’t care if she sounded like a lunatic.  
“Oh..oh my god! You’re so fucking screwed!”  
“What the hell do you mean by that?!”  
“They’re coming! And it’s not just Eric and Natsu! You’ve got seven dragon slayers coming after your ass, buddy, so I suggest you start running.”  
“You lying bitch!”  
She heard a zipper being pulled down, and while she gaped in surprise at the audacity of this guy, the crowbar came flying at her face, breaking her jaw and whipping her head to the side. She lost the connection with Eric and the others, but he knew exactly where she was now. And damn, was he fucking pissed.  
~~~  
The last thing Eric had expected was for one of Lucy’s spirits to show up right in front of him. It was Leo the Lion, and he was shaking with anger.  
“Loki? What are you doing here?”  
Leo, or Loki as Natsu had called him, glared at all of them. “You better fucking kill all of them for what they’re doing to her right now.”  
Eric narrowed his eyes. “What’s happening? Where’s Lucy and Sorano?”  
Leo growled, his body flaring brighter for a moment. “In a building two miles from here. Lucy sent me to find you guys and lead you to her.”  
Eric growled. “That didn’t answer all of my questions. What is happening?”  
Leo’s face twisted. “Just hurry, alright? They want the Duke’s kids for ransom, but they’re going to make Lucy and Sorano their new toys. Two miles east.”  
With that, he disappeared into thin air, and Eric exploded. He started running at a dead sprint towards the east, not even caring to look behind him to confirm what he already knew. The other dragon slayers were right behind him, and they were all just as pissed. And then he heard it. Lucy was calling out to him.  
“ERIC!! I’M HERE!!!”  
The force of her soul latching on to his was so powerful, he stumbled before regaining his footing and focusing on where her soul’s voice was coming from.  
“I’ve got her location!”  
“Fuck yeah! I hope they’ve got iron swords!”  
“Whoo! I’m all fired up now!”  
As the others shouted back, Eric found himself grinning like a maniac as he closed the distance to the building. He could hear her joy as she realized exactly who was coming to save her, and as he got closer, he heard Lucy’s soul calling out for help, and then suddenly the connection was lost again. But Eric knew exactly where she was now. And whoever was with her, was going to sorely regret the day they laid hands on the celestial spirit mage. And if they’d hurt Sorano, he’d poison them and let Gajeel skewer them with his iron while Natsu roasted them alive. And just for good measure, he’d let Sting and Rogue kill them. Wendy would be keeping them alive through said poisoning, skewering, and roasting. And finally, he could see the building.  
Natsu and Gajeel pulled ahead of him, and Eric let them so they could bust down the wall with an Iron Dragon Slayer Roar and a Fire Dragon Slayer Roar. Sting and Rogue added their own breath attacks to the mix, and it was safe to say that that wall got fucking obliterated. Wendy hung back to wait until the fighting was over so she could heal anyone who needed it. Meanwhile, Eric started cackling like the maniac he felt like at the moment and ran straight downstairs into the dungeons, letting the other four clean house upstairs. Eric activated his Dragon Force and let his poison fill his claws, raking them through anyone he came across until he found an iron door. One swipe from his claws cut clean through the door thanks to his poison, and he kicked what was left of it down, already snarling as he zeroed in on the fucker beating Lucy with a crowbar while he was trying to pry her legs open so he could get his tiny dick in her. Luckily, Sorano had delayed him by pulling at his ankles, and she ducked as he made a swing at her with the crowbar. Eric wrapped his arms around the little shit, putting one clawed hand up to his throat and burying the claws from the other into his pudgy stomach.  
“Scream for me, bitch.”  
He let out a high-pitched scream so loud, Eric killed him faster just to get the annoying sound away from his sensitive ears. Then he whistled, waiting while the other Dragon Slayers rushed to his location. Wendy went in first, and she screamed when she saw the state Lucy was in. Eric himself couldn’t stop staring at the blood all over her body, or the fact that someone, probably the fucker Eric had just killed, had torn her skirt off and ripped her shirt to shreds, taking her bra with it. Which meant Lucy was lying there in only a purple pair of lace panties, totally exposed and bleeding. Of course, Wendy took care of the bleeding part with no difficulties. But as for the clothes…  
“Oi, Eric, what are you doing?”  
“Shut up and take care of the chains, Gajeel.”  
Eric took his coat off his shoulders and picked Lucy up once Wendy and Gajeel were done, wrapping her in his coat carefully. Gajeel bit through Sorano’s chains, and then she said something that rocked Eric to his core.  
“She protected me. That guy was going to hurt me, and she told him to hurt her instead.”  
While Eric was busy reeling from that little bombshell, Laxus cursed under his breath.  
“Damn Blondie. Always sticking her neck out for everybody. One of these days, she’s gonna get her ass killed.”  
Eric couldn’t believe what he’d heard. Sure, Gray had said earlier that Lucy was always there if someone needed her, but volunteering to get beaten with a crowbar just to save someone who’d already been traumatized by physical abuse was a little extreme. And yet she’d done it. According to Sorano’s soul, she’d taken over forty hits from that crowbar while that bastard had been trying to pry her legs apart with one hand so he could rape her. And Sorano was just as much in shock as he had been.  
“Ah, jeez, Gray’s gonna kill me when he finds out I went to save Lucy and Sorano without him.”  
Gajeel snorted. “You kidding? Erza’s gonna kill all of us when she finds out we stormed a dark guild without her.”  
Wendy shifted nervously, but Eric heard her thoughts loud and clear. “Yeah, Wendy’s right, we need to get Lucy home.”  
Eric tightened his grip on Lucy and breezed right past Natsu and Gajeel, but Laxus put a huge arm out to stop him. “Where you going with such a tight grip on Blondie.”  
It wasn’t a question, but a demand. And deep in Laxus’ soul, Eric could hear him getting ready to zap the hell out of Eric if Laxus suspected he was going to do anything funny to Blondie. But surprisingly, that wasn’t because he was suspicious of Eric himself. Apparently, several people in the guild had been caught trying to get too close to Lucy when she had a wardrobe malfunction beyond her control, or when she was asleep, and Lucy had told Laxus herself that sometimes it made her feel like shit whenever people only seemed interested in her when she was partially naked.  
“I’ll keep it in mind, Sparky. And for the record, I’m taking her back to her apartment. You know, the one that me and the others still share with her?”  
Laxus stared at him for a moment, his expression unreadable, but his soul dissecting every aspect of Eric’s expression. And then he slowly put his arm down, nodding at Eric. As Eric walked past him, he heard the most shocking thing from his soul.  
“I get the feeling he won’t hurt her. Seems like Lucy turned the tables on him, and reached his soul for a change. Funny, didn’t think the guy had one.”  
Eric almost laughed at that last bit. But he was too busy wondering how the big guy was so damn perceptive all the time. But the guy was right. As far as Eric was concerned, Lucy might have even gotten closer to him in just a few short weeks than anyone who’d been with him in the tower had ever gotten. But he blamed it on her soul. It was bright and shining, even when she was sad or scared, and it had become a sort of safe haven for him. Every time he dipped into her soul, everyone else was drowned out by her light, and for once, his head was mostly silent. Except for her thoughts, of course. But that was better than everyone else’s all at once.  
It took them twice as long to walk back to Fairy Tail than it had to get to the dark guild. But that was probably because Sting and Rogue each had a twin on their shoulders, Gajeel had a two-year-old on his shoulders, Laxus was giving a piggyback ride to a thirteen-year-old, and Natsu was carrying a nine-year-old. And Eric had Lucy in his arms, while Wendy was holding Sorano’s arm while she walked. By the time they finally made it back, though, Duke Tiny Dick was screaming at the master, demanding that he return his children.  
“I ask that you not raise your voice at me, sir. Your children are not in my guild, I already explained that they were kidnapped along with two of my children!”  
“I don’t give a shit about your guild! Do you have any idea what it will do to my image if the people find out that all five of my children disappeared?! You find them and bring them to me this instant!”  
“E-Eric…”  
Eric snapped his attention away from the guild master to look at Lucy. She shivered, and opened her eyes weakly.  
“Lucy? Hey, can you hear me?”  
Lucy didn’t say a word, but Eric snorted when he heard her soul’s response.  
“Yes, I can hear you. Do me a favor and shut up that little pig. Aren’t you in the mood for pork chops?”  
“As a matter of fact, I am.”  
Lucy smiled and grabbed the lapels of his coat, pulling it tighter around herself as Eric stepped towards the master and the little shit that called himself a Duke. The moment he cleared his throat, the Duke turned around and puffed his stupid chest out again.  
“There you are! What have you done with my-”  
Ace snarled, shutting the Duke up pretty damn effectively. “My boy, did you just-”  
“I ain’t your fucking boy, you disgusting pig!”  
Out of nowhere, Lahar and Doranbolt stepped into view, identical glowers on their faces. When he spotted their white Council uniforms, Ace stepped forward.  
“Are you from the Council?”  
“Yes, we are.”  
“Arrest him, please. For domestic abuse and child abuse.”  
“Have you any proof?”  
Leave it to Lahar to always be professional. But Ace just ripped his shirt off and bared his scars to the two of them, making even cool and collected Lahar suck in a breath.  
“Sir, you are under arrest. I think I’ve seen enough here.”  
“How dare you! You ungrateful brat! I give you a roof over your head, a place to sleep, and warm food, and this is how you repay me?”  
A sad look crossed Ace’s face then, and Eric winced at his words. “I never wanted any of that. I just wanted a family.”  
The Duke kept screaming as Lahar and Doranbolt dragged him out, and then Makarov turned to look at Ace. “My dear boy, that was very brave of you, turning your father in like that.”  
Ace scoffed. “He’s not my father. Never was, never will be. I was hoping I could join Fairy Tail, actually. Where do I sign up?”  
Nina beamed. “Fairy Tail? I wanna join if Ace is!”  
Bo and Po cackled evilly. “Us too! Us too!”  
Of course, the little tot wanted in, too. Master was pretty surprised to be taking in a bunch of kids so suddenly, but since Mira was all for it, claiming the guild needed more kids around again, he agreed and gave the kids their guild marks sooner rather than later. Eric didn’t stick around to see what color they chose. He’d heard from someone that Sawyer, Richard, and Macbeth had been moved back to Lucy’s apartment, so he grabbed Sorano and left. And he didn’t give two shits if people kept wondering why Eric hadn’t let go of Lucy since they got back, and why she was bundled up in his coat. As soon as they got home (yes, Eric considered it home, fuck off), Sorano took Lucy into the bathroom and finally returned the favor of the baths she’d given them when they first got here. When she came back out, she was without Lucy and pouting.  
“Eric, I have no idea where any of her clothes are. She moved them to make room for ours.”  
Eric grumbled and went into Lucy’s little chest filled with her clothes, and started rooting around for something comfy for her to wear. He found a pair of sleeping shorts and a t-shirt pretty easy, but he really had to dig for underwear and bras. And holy shit, did the woman like her lace. Eric chose a random set of black lace, then tossed the whole pile at Sorano.  
“Yeesh, if she owned any more lace, she could strangle somebody with it.”  
Sorano snorted as she disappeared back into the bathroom, and Eric stretched out on her bed, yawning as he sank his head into her amazing pillows. Not nearly as comfortable as her lap, but oh well. He was just starting to nod off when he heard Sorano giggle, and then the breath was knocked out of his lungs by a top-heavy blonde.  
“Oof! Sorano, what the fuck?!”  
“Sorry, thought it would be funny. Have fun!”  
Sorano launched herself into her bed, leaving Eric to deal with the sleeping blonde currently shifting to make herself comfortable in her sleep. Not wanting to wake her up, he let her do her little shimmy and shake, until she had her head on his pec, a hand on his stomach, and her legs tangled with his. And oddly enough, he didn’t mind it all that much. And no, it wasn’t just because her tits felt way too good pressed up against his chest. Maybe he was just glad she was safe. See, Eric has a heart. Fuckers.  
“Comfy, Eric?”  
“Fuck off, you mangy bitch. I ain’t about to wake her up after the shit she just went through.”  
“Exactly why I put her there. Have a nice night!”  
Next few minutes, he heard Sorano snoring. But Eric wasn’t going to sleep, because he could sense Salamander outside her window, and down at street level, he could sense Gajeel, Gray, Laxus, Juvia, Cana, Erza, and a shit ton of other people all clamoring to check on Lucy. Eric sighed and used his foot to nudge her window lock open, and instantly, Natsu opened it and climbed inside. He froze when he saw Eric on the bed with Lucy, though.  
“Say one fucking word, and I will paralyze you and let Erza give you medical acupuncture.”  
Natsu’s eyes widened, and he got a lovely little mental image of exactly that. But then Natsu opened his mouth to speak, and Eric growled in warning.  
“Wake her up, and it’ll be even worse.”  
Natsu closed his mouth and nodded, then leaned out the window and said something to the crowd below. To Eric’s utter disbelief, they formed a fucking human chain to climb up through her window, and far sooner than he would’ve liked, the entire fucking guild was crowded into her apartment, all equally worried about her.  
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, she’s fine, dammit. Wendy already healed her.”  
Gajeel folded his arms and growled. “Cocky bastard. What happened to her?”  
Eric rolled his eyes, about to say something snarky, then thought better of it. They were just worried about his Lucy, after all. Woah...his Lucy? When had that happened?  
“She jumped in front of Sorano and took over forty hits from a crowbar while that idiot I poisoned in the cell was trying to pry her legs open and rape her.”  
Total fucking silence. Even from their souls. All he could hear was shock and anger, and then Laxus grinned.  
“Good thing you gave him a permanent case of blue balls.”  
Bickslow started to open his mouth to cackle, but one glare from Eric had him keeping it quiet. “That sounds just like Lucy to take the hit like that. Just ask Gajeel. She’s a stubborn one when it comes to torture.”  
Gajeel winced. “Oi, fucker, don’t bring up my Phantom Lord days. That shit still hurts.”  
Levy patted his arm. “It’s okay, Gajeel, you know she doesn’t blame you for any of that.”  
“That’s the worst fucking part, Shrimp. She’s too damn forgiving. Then again, she is the reason we got these idiots in the guild.”  
Cana grinned. “Hey, I’m not complaining. Eric here can’t get drunk, so he’s the perfect drinking buddy!”  
Eric huffed. “Keep it quiet, ya damn alcoholic. You wake up Lucy, and I’ll hide every fucking barrel of ale in Magnolia.”  
That shut her up. But it made Erza chuckle. He really wasn’t looking to earn her respect, but whatever. Didn’t mean he couldn’t still ruin it.  
“You too, Titania. I ain’t afraid to fight you.”  
Before Erza could respond, Lucy groaned in her sleep and wrapped her arms around Eric’s stomach, whispering loud enough for just about everyone near the bed to hear.  
“Mine…”  
Eric’s eye popped wide open. “The fuck did she just say?”  
Laxus scowled. “What the hell is she dreaming about?”  
Eric frowned and focused his Soul Listening magic, listening in on her dreams, only to hiss and pull back out of it a second later. For fuck’s sake, she was dreaming about him. Talk about spank bank material. He couldn’t even bring himself to focus on the details.  
“Uh...weird shit. I ain’t going into it.”  
Natsu gaped. “Wait, you can hear dreams?”  
Eric rolled his eye. “Of course I can, fucktard.”  
Mira sighed and held up a hand, revealing Eric’s baby snake, Remy. Eric smiled and held out his hand, letting Mira touch his finger so that Remy could slither over. He’d almost forgotten he’d asked the Takeover Mage to watch over him while he was on that job.  
“Hey, buddy. How was it while I was gone?”  
Remy wrapped himself around his wrist and scented the air, his little tongue tickling Eric’s knuckle. “Missed you…”  
Eric smiled. “Yeah, I missed you too, little buddy. But everyone’s okay.”  
“Cold...Sleepy time…”  
Go figure the little shit would want to sleep as soon as he saw Eric. Eric sighed and dropped his head against Lucy’s pillow, barely noticing when the little snake crawled up his arm to his usual spot on Eric’s pec, right above his heart. Lucy made a little whimper in her sleep, and her fingers tightened in Eric’s shirt, making him frown. But he wasn’t about to check to see what she was dreaming about again.  
“Are all of you just going to stand there?”  
Mira giggled. “The Master suggested that we all have a sleepover to celebrate everyone’s safe return!”  
That explained why the five kids they’d just fucking adopted had immediately crawled into the beds with his buddies. They obviously misunderstood the meaning of the word ‘sleepover’. But judging by what Mira and Cana had cooking up in their little heads, he wasn’t going to like it very much anyway.  
“I don’t feel like I have much choice. Just as long as nobody wakes up Lucy.”  
Gray rolled his eyes. “Yeesh, protective much?”  
Eric bared his fangs at the fucker. “Shut the fuck up. She saved my goddamn life, you bastard. Not to mention those idiots sleeping over there.”  
Erza frowned. “What on earth do you mean?”  
Eric cursed to himself. He’d totally forgotten that Lucy and Makarov were the only ones who knew what had happened at the prison. And now he’d backed himself into a damn corner.  
“Eric? Is there something we don’t know?”  
Damn, he couldn’t even look at Erza. Instead, his eyes slid over to where the others were sleeping on their beds. On the one hand, it wasn’t his place to tell them their shitty problems, but if he told them what had happened to him at the Council’s containment facility, it wouldn’t take them long to figure out it had happened to them, too. On the other hand, it would benefit them greatly if they knew just how traumatized they all were. Sure, they all knew not to talk about Brain because of the risk of Macbeth having a panic attack, but that was pretty much it.  
“Eric, you’re making me worry.”  
Eric looked down at Lucy and smoothed her hair down, inhaling the scent of her to calm himself. He could do this. It was for their benefit. And his, probably. But shit, not even Lucy knew the whole fucking shit show story. And for that reason, he sat up and pinched her side and tickled her until she woke up squealing.  
“What the fuck, dude? All those threats for us not to wake her up, and you do that?!”  
Lucy frowned at Gray, then the rest of the guild. “Uh...why is the whole damn guild in my apartment?”  
As Lucy sat up in his lap, frowning, Eric let himself slump forward until his forehead was resting on her shoulder. Lucy stiffened instantly, as if she could sense how upset he was, and her arms wrapped around his back.  
“Eric? Are you alright?”  
Eric’s one eye slid around to stare at the guild. “Sit your asses down. There’s something you need to know about all of us.”  
Lucy’s eyes widened, and she was about to protest, he could hear it in her soul. But he sighed, and she held her breath, waiting to see if he would actually do it. And it was now or never, he supposed.  
“I wasn’t kidnapped like the others. I was born in the Tower. Mother died in childbirth. But the others were kidnapped, like most of the other kids.”  
Erza sucked in a breath and staggered forward. Gray and Natsu caught her, but Eric ignored it and kept talking. If he stopped now, he would never start again.  
“Other than that, it was pretty much the same as everyone else in the Tower. Same fucked up shit. Ask Erza for details. After Brain took us from the Tower, things were better at first, but then he got more controlling. He trained us brutally, forced us to do whatever he said to train our magic and do whatever he wanted. But it went beyond harsh training.”  
He had to pause to take a breather, but he wasn’t going to admit he also needed to use more of Lucy’s scent to calm himself. This next part was something he hadn’t admitted to anyone before now, but he was the best one to tell it, because with his Soul Listening Magic, he knew everything the others had been through, too.  
“Brain tortured us. If we didn’t train our absolute hardest every day, he’d beat us senseless. He broke us down, day by day, until we became nothing more than the code names he gave us. If Racer didn’t please him, Brain tied him to a stake and made all of us throw rocks at him. Or if we were too busy training, he’d beat Racer himself. If Hoteye didn’t perform, Brain starved him, which is why he always ate so much, and got so big. If Angel fucked up, Brain made her train naked, and he forced the rest of us to stare at her and humiliate her. But me and Midnight had it the worst.”  
He felt and heard Lucy’s breath hitched, and her arms tightened around him almost protectively. He appreciated the gesture, more than she would probably ever know, but it wasn’t going to make this hurt any less.  
“If Midnight fucked up, Brain completely fucking ruined him. He’d force him to stay awake for days, and sometimes he raped him. The twisted fucker forced him to call him ‘father’ too, and it got so ingrained in his head that he started actually believing it. And...me...he..”  
Lucy squeezed him, and he took the deepest fucking breath of his life, and let it out on a shudder. “He hurt Cubellios. He’d take her from me, lock her in a refrigerator, then chain me in a dark room and rape me until I swore to never mess up again. He made me beg him not to hurt her, snapped my bones and flogged me until I prayed that I would bleed out. I got the worst beatings because I could handle it, after he shoved that damn lacrima into me. And every time, when it was finally over, I had to race to get Cubellios out of that fridge, and outside where I could start a fire and desperately rub her scales until she stopped freezing to death. And sometimes, he made Midnight watch, so he could learn to be as ruthless as Brain was. That’s why Midnight has a panic attack anytime he hears that name. And even I get nightmares about it.”  
For once, the guild was totally fucking silent, and Eric hated that he had still more bombs to drop on them. But damn it all, he was shaking like a leaf now.  
“It gets worse. In prison, after we were all arrested the second time, they started abusing us there, too. Sorano didn’t even get basic feminine hygiene products for her time of the month, and none of us were allowed to fucking bathe regularly, but Sorano wasn’t allowed to at all. They’d taunt us with spoiled food, give us the barest amount of water necessary for us to survive, and anything extra they’d drink right in front of us. They knew I needed poison to survive, but they only gave it to me once every two weeks, not nearly enough. They starved Richard. Snapped Sawyer’s legs and made him drag himself around his cage by electrocuting him. Raped Sorano. Tased Macbeth every time he tried to sleep. Tased me while I was in the fucking shower. Once, the fuckers shoved the taser inside of me, then turned it on at full blast. I couldn’t fucking move for a full day.”  
Eric paused for breath again. The tension in the room was palpable, to the point where he wondered if he should say anything else, or let Lahar and Doranbolt have all of Fairy Tail coming after them. But unfortunately, he was supposed to be a good guy now. Bummer.  
“Lahar and Doranbolt found out when we got signed up for the reform program, and they came to get us. Sorano was on the verge of death while two guards were drinking the only water she’d been given that week, and Lahar had to take a chunk of spoiled meat from her so she wouldn’t get goddamn food poisoning. It was the reason behind the mass firing at the Council, and why we were taken to Lucy first.”  
Finally, someone spoke. As it turned out, it was Laxus. “Hold up. They dumped all of you with Lucy when you were half dead? Are they crazy?”  
Eric sighed. “Lahar was mostly concerned with getting us out of there as soon as possible, to save our lives. And when he contacted the Master, the Master told him to bring us to Lucy, because she was the most trustworthy in the guild. And she was. That’s what I mean when I say Lucy saved our lives. She was pissed at first, sure, but as soon as she knew what had happened, she called for Wendy and Porlyusica, got us all healed, and then she took the time to give each one of us a proper fucking bath. Got us clothes, from either shit of her own or shit she had from when some of you guys came over, and had Wendy bring us food from the guild. Then she even had that maid spirit of hers come and make us real beds, so we wouldn’t have to sleep on the floor or the couch. And from that point on, she never once doubted a single one of us. And she saved my ass from Natsu when he fired that breath attack without even looking where he was aiming. And protected us from Erza. And helped me sleep on the train. And protected Sorano from those bastards. All of that shit, she did without even hesitating, despite everything we’d done to her. She had the most reasons out of all of you to throw us to the curb and let us die, but she didn’t. So yeah, I respect the hell out of her for that.”  
Lucy was crying. He could hear the sorrow in her soul, smell the salt of her tears, and feel the dampness on his scalp where her tears landed on his head. But to his utter shock, she wasn’t the only one. Wendy was bawling so hard she got the hiccups, Erza was crying from her memories of the Tower, Elfman was crying about how manly he was to admit so much, Bisca and Alzack were crying because they were imagining how they would feel if their daughter Asuka had grown up in such a horrible way, and Mira was wailing. And, shit, he was crying now too. When did that fucking happen?  
“Shit, man...I don’t even know what to say.”  
Eric tilted his head forward so his bangs covered his face and sighed. “Nothing. Don’t say a damn thing. I only told you so you knew what lines not to cross with us. For them, not me. Just...one of ya do me a favor and tell the Master.”  
“I already knew, child.”  
Eric nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw the crowd part to reveal that tiny Master standing there with a grave look on his face. “You fucking what?!”  
Makarov sighed and stared at his pointy shoes. “I knew, child. Lahar gave me your files long before you arrived at Lucy’s house. When they interviewed Brain, he apparently gave them quite the detailed account of how he treated all of you. Seemed to enjoy the horrified looks on their faces as he relished in every memory. Made me sick to my stomach, reading it. And of course I was informed of your condition at the prison when they found out about it. But I did not inform Lucy of anything other than what Lahar and Doranbolt told her, as I wanted to leave it up to you to open up to the guild on your own. Of course, I didn’t expect you to quite literally open up to the entire guild at once, but it’s still gratifying to see you open up so completely.”  
Eric couldn’t do anything other than stare at the Master. But evidently, Lucy had other ideas.  
“Master! That was unacceptable, scaring Eric like that after he just opened up! Apologize!”  
Makarov just blinked at her while she glared at him. “I’m...sorry?”  
Lucy huffed angrily. “Like you mean it. You invaded his privacy, and didn’t tell him about it until after he opened up! You know perfectly well that if you had told him from the start you knew everything, you still could’ve kept it a secret and let him open up to everyone else on his own!”  
The Master winced. “Ah. You’re right, Lucy. Eric, I apologize for not telling you sooner.”  
Eric could only blink. “I, uh. Sure. Words. Great.”  
Lucy snorted. “Everyone get comfy. Eric needs to sleep.”  
Eric bristled at that. “Oi! Woman, I ain’t a damn toddler!”  
Lucy glowered at him. “Shut the fuck up and let me love you, dammit!”  
“You already do! Stop being fucking clingy!”  
“Dammit, you stubborn motherfucker! I will suffocate you!”  
“With what?! Your tits?!”  
“Maybe!”  
Bickslow cackled and slung an arm over Freed’s shoulder. “Lucky bastard!”  
Happy pouted at Natsu. “I wanna cuddle with Lushy…”  
Lucy huffed and smiled at Happy. “You can cuddle with me too, Happy.”  
“Aye, sir!”  
Elfman pouted. “I wanna cuddle with someone.”  
Lucy rolled her eyes as Evergreen started yelling at Elfman for being a baby, and then she forcibly rolled onto her side, taking a yelping Eric with her. He ended up with his face smushed into her stomach, and both of her legs around his waist, holding him prisoner.  
“Fucking clingy-ass woman.”  
Laxus snorted. “That’s new. Usually everyone is totally happy to cuddle with her.”  
Lucy’s head popped up to glare at Laxus. “Shut up, Laxus. You know damn well I practically had to knock you out before you would even accept a hug from me. And even then, you only did it because Mira threatened to murder you if you didn’t let me. You nearly had an aneurysm the first time I cuddled with you during one of your missions.”  
Eric snorted. “Jesus, do you fucking cuddle everybody?”  
Master Makarov huffed. “She’s never cuddled me.”  
Lucy rolled her eyes. “That’s not true, Master. What about that time I saved you during one of the guild brawls? I literally picked you up and carried you across the whole guild because you were drunk off your ass.”  
The Master frowned. “I have no memory of any such thing!”  
Erza sighed. “It happened. Mira had to tell you to keep your hands to yourself again. But yes, Eric, Lucy cuddles with just about everybody who's willing, and a few who aren't.”  
Lucy stuck her tongue out at everyone when a few people started snickering, then flicked Eric’s ear, laughing when he whined.  
“Go to sleep. You can be grumpy with me in the morning.”  
Before Eric could protest, the bed dipped under someone’s weight, and he looked up to see Levy sliding in behind Lucy, and Gajeel sliding in behind her. Someone shoved Sawyer and Macbeth onto Sorano’s bed next to Richard, and then people were piling onto the beds in huge groups, snuggling with each other like it was totally fucking normal. Hell, Laxus had his entire Thunder Legion asleep on his enormous chest, and Elfman was right next to him on the same bed, with both Mirajane and Lisanna asleep on his chest. Natsu, Happy, Gray, Erza, and Juvia all somehow managed to join the party on Lucy’s bed, although Lucy complained about Happy being in her boobs and Natsu hugging her legs, and pretty soon all of Fairy Tail was in a huge fucking cuddle fest in Lucy’s apartment. Shit, even Sting, Rogue, and Yukino were snuggling up to Sorano, and Eric hadn’t even noticed they were still here. Even Wendy was laughing as she curled up with Cana.  
“It’s really fucking crowded on this bed. How is it not breaking with Gajeel’s heavy ass on it?”  
“Gihi, Bunny had it reinforced just for shit like this. ‘Course, we’ve never had quite this many people in here before, but...meh. Every fuckin’ one of us has been in here for comfort cuddles with Lucy at some point. Well, except for me. I was coerced.”  
Lucy snorted. “Bullshit, Gajeel! You were pouting because Levy went on a mission with Team Shadow Gear and left without you! You literally showed up at my apartment and started sadly eating my fucking cutlery. Then you got drunk, demanded that I comfort you, and fell asleep on the fucking floor after you hug-tackled me.”  
Gajeel laughed so hard, the whole bed shook. “Gihee! Exactly! The alcohol coerced me!”  
Eric sighed as Lucy’s fingers drifted down into his hair, and when Natsu wriggled his way between Levy and Lucy to spoon Lucy from behind, her other arm reached behind her to stroke his hair, too. She was totally fucking comfortable, surrounded by her guild like this. So yeah, Eric decided to let loose and do something to make her happy. Besides, with her fingers brushing through his hair and her nails lightly scraping his scalp, it was no trouble at all to let the deep rumble vibrate through his chest and out of his throat, letting it reverberate in waves with each slide of her hands against his scalp. And after a few minutes when everything quieted down, the guild fell silent as his purring filled the air.  
“Eric? Are you...purring?”  
Eric blushed a little in embarrassment, but he sighed. “Shut the fuck up.”  
Lucy gasped and scraped his scalp again, giggling with delight as his purring got louder involuntarily. And then came the questions.  
“Hold up, Eric can purr?”  
“Is that a Dragon Slayer thing?”  
“Natsu, can you purr?”  
“Yeah, Laxus, can you purr?”  
Levy spun around and thrust both of her fingers into Gajeel’s wild mane, massaging his scalp with a determined expression. And at first, Gajeel just groaned, but then a heavy rumble, much deeper than Eric’s, rolled out of his throat, and Levy gasped in absolute wonder.  
“Oh my god, that’s fucking adorable.”  
Gajeel growled. “Eric, ya fuckin’ asshole! Why’d you have to go and let them find out we can purr?”  
Natsu whined as Lucy started petting him for real, and soon he was purring, too, though his were much softer, and sweeter, according to Lucy and Levy. There was a lot of shouting and vehement protests from Laxus as the Thunder Legion descended on him, but soon enough there was a bass rumble coming from his big-ass barrel chest, too. Cana started petting Wendy until she let out an adorable kitten’s purr, and Yukino started petting both Sting and Rogue as they both nuzzled against her and purred loudly. Lucy’s entire apartment filled with the purring, until it sounded like she had a legion of cats in her place. Hell, Gajeel’s fucking bass machine of a purr was vibrating Lucy’s entire bed, though Eric took no small amount of delight in hearing Lucy’s soul very much enjoying how she could feel Eric’s purr vibrating in his chest where it pressed against her lower regions. Even if she was also noticing how it felt like she was getting a massage with Natsu purring right behind her the way he was. It was pretty fucking cute, actually. And damn him, but Eric never wanted to leave this moment. This moment when he was sleeping peacefully while surrounded by people he knew and trusted, instead of being terrified to go to sleep or wake up surrounded. When he was finally free to just be himself, and finally able to actually make people happy for once, instead of having people run away from him screaming. It was nice. It definitely felt nice to nuzzle his face against Lucy’s soft stomach, without having to worry about the contact being rejected because of who he was or what he looked like. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders, and he got the sense that all of Fairy Tail was smiling at him as they helped him hold it up. He was no longer Cobra of the Oracion Seis. He was Eric of Fairy Tail.  
~~~  
Lucy had never before woken up with so many people in her apartment, but for once she wasn’t planning on Lucy Kicking them all out. She knew why they’d all come. They were happy to have her back, and that was probably why Eric had let them all in. But now she had plans to thank everyone for not only being so happy to see her, but including Eric in their cuddle sesh tradition. Too bad Sorano, Sawyer, Macbeth, and Richard were already asleep, though someone had made the effort to push them closer together, so they were kinda cuddling with each other. Lucy slowly, very carefully extricated herself from the pile of bodies on her bed, taking extra care to make sure she didn’t wake anybody up. Then she snuck into her kitchen, and summoned Virgo.  
“Virgo, do you think you could bring some food from the celestial spirit world for everyone here? And maybe some poison for Eric?”  
Virgo bowed deeply. “Of course, Princess. I just so happened to have anticipated your request, and prepared enough food for everyone here. I shall set it up shortly, and return with poison for Eric.”  
“Thanks, Virgo.”  
“No problem, Princess.”  
As Virgo disappeared and then reappeared to start setting her table, after extending it as far as it could possibly go, Lucy started the coffee machine, and got some tea started for the members of the guild that didn’t drink coffee, like Freed and Wendy. Pretty soon, the smell of delicious food filled her apartment, and of course, the Dragon Slayers woke up first.  
“Mmm...food…”  
Lucy came back with a cup of coffee and smiled as Natsu started dragging himself over Gray, Juvia, and Erza to get to the table. Eric crawled right after him, and Gajeel quickly followed suit. Laxus extricated himself from the Thunder Legion and sat next to Gajeel, and Wendy managed to pry Cana’s hands off of her to get at the breakfast, too. When Sting and Rogue dropped into seats of their own, Virgo came back with some really powerful chemicals that Lucy poured into a cup of coffee for Eric, and he groaned as he ingested the stuff.  
“Don’t eat all of it. Virgo made enough for everybody, so you do have to share.”  
Natsu took one look at the food-covered table and groaned. “I don’t even think I could eat all of this, Luce.”  
Lucy shrugged as she started shaking people awake, getting her newly awakened guild members to help her. Although, Gray was less than kind when he started putting freezing cold hands on everyone to jolt them awake. Once everybody was awake, Lucy’s table was quickly surrounded, and she realized she should’ve gotten a seat earlier, when she still had the chance. But then someone grabbed her hand, and she was suddenly being pulled into Eric’s lap.  
“Eat, Tits.”  
Lucy snorted as she leaned forward to take some bacon from Eric’s plate, munching on it as everyone gobbled up the food from the celestial spirit world. And of course, afterward there was a belching contest. Everyone thought Natsu was going to win, when suddenly Eric let out the most monstrous belch Lucy had ever heard in her entire life, then calmly sipped more poisoned coffee like he hadn’t just blown Natsu’s record completely out of the water.  
“What? Poisons make you gassy.”  
Lucy burst into a fit of giggles as Natsu started whining about how unfair it was, but eventually she calmed down and started collecting the dishes to clean them. Levy and Mira helped her out, and for a while, everyone was content to just laze about Lucy’s apartment and enjoy each other’s company. That is, until Doranbolt and Lahar Direct-Lined into her living room and promptly lost their shit when they saw Macbeth and Eric play-fighting with Natsu and Erza. Lucy quickly stepped in their way, however, and even drew her whip to shake it in Lahar and Doranbolt’s faces.  
“Nuh-uh. You are not interrupting this. I wanna see who wins.”  
Lahar spluttered indignantly. “But they’re fighting!”  
Lucy giggled and put one hand on her hip, cocking it to the side in a sassy pose she just knew would irk Lahar to no end. “So? This is Fairy Tail, we spar with each other and fight all the time. Anyways, I assume you came to check on the former members of the Oracion Seis?”  
Lahar huffed and pushed his glasses up his nose, still keeping one eye trained on Eric and Macbeth. “Yes, that is correct. Would you mind filling us in?”  
Needless to say, both Council workers were speechless when Lucy finished off her story with the details of the cuddle sesh.  
“You...cuddled? With the former Oracion Seis?”  
Lucy rolled her eyes. “Hey, don’t knock it till you try it. Eric’s actually pretty cuddly. And Macbeth loves sleeping with other people around. Even if it did take him a while to feel comfortable sleeping here.”  
Doranbolt arched an eyebrow. “I don’t think we’ll be finding the time to cuddle with anyone anytime soon, Lucy. But I’m curious about the fact that Eric actually joined the other Dragon Slayers to rescue you and Sorano and those children. I didn’t really think him the type to be a team player with anyone other than those four.”  
Lucy really wished he would choose his words more kindly, considering Eric was right fucking there, and could probably hear him even without his Soul Listening magic. But whatever, you can’t fix stupid.  
“He is. Why do you act so surprised, you two? After all, you did place them here as part of a reform program. Why does it seem like you expected them to fail?”  
Lahar went silent at that. “I...I apologize. It seems I did have quite low expectations for how well they would adapt to this life, considering what they’ve been through. But are you absolutely positive they have nothing to merit them going back to prison? I must be extremely thorough in my report, and I would hate to find that anyone feels threatened by them.”  
Lucy narrowed her eyes, about to tongue-lash the shit out of Lahar, when Natsu growled and got right up in Lahar’s face. “What did you just say? Are you trying to imply they would hurt a member of their own guild? Funny, I don’t seem to remember them doing that even when they were a dark guild.”  
Erza stood up, her back straight and her brows furrowed in anger. “Natsu is right. It is completely unacceptable for you to imply such shallow actions of Fairy Tail wizards. I suggest you apologize now.”  
Lucy looked around, her heart swelling when she saw every single guild member in her apartment stepping forward to defend Eric and the others from the Council.  
“They haven’t done a damn thing to us!”  
“Yeah, if anything you should arrest us for being so hostile to them at first!”  
“You can send them back to that hellhole over my dead fucking body!”  
“Me too! They’re super manly, so I’ll fight for them any day!”  
As more choruses of agreement filled the air, Sorano burst into tears, and while Sawyer and Macbeth got a little misty-eyed, they kept quiet. Not Richard, though. He was crying louder than Lucy had ever heard him cry before. And even Eric looked a little worked up.  
“Very well then. It seems there is a unanimous agreement that the five former members of the Oracion Seis are doing perfectly well with their parole.”  
“You mean the five members of Fairy Tail.”  
Doranbolt nearly screamed as Happy shot out of Lucy’s cleavage, seemingly coming out of nowhere. “Aye, sir!”  
“How the fuck did he fit in there?!”  
“Doranbolt! Mind your language!”  
“Oh come on, how does that not faze you?! A fucking Exceed flew out of her cleavage!”  
Lucy giggled as she looked down just as a little white snake with red eyes slithered out of her cleavage as well. “Oh hey Remy! I didn’t even know you’d fallen asleep in there.”  
Doranbolt went slack-jawed. “Tell me that a snake did not just come out of her boobs.”  
All of Fairy Tail chimed in to answer that. “That’s Lucy for ya!”  
Doranbolt shook his head. “Jesus, what else can she fit in there?”  
Lucy smirked and raised an eyebrow. “Do you really want me to answer that? It’s a pretty long list.”  
Doranbolt blanched. “Please don’t.”  
Bickslow cackled like a maniac. “I know for a fact I’ve seen her hide a whole damn pocketbook in there.”  
Levy giggled. “She held a popsicle with them once on a dare!”  
While Doranbolt looked like he was going to get a nosebleed, Lahar cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention. “Alright, we do have some work to attend to back at the Council. Now that we know everything is going well, we only ask that you send in regular reports on their progress. Other than that, we’ll pretty much leave you alone.”  
With that, they disappeared. After a lot more partying and drinking, the members of Fairy Tail slowly left her apartment, leaving her alone with her roommates again.  
“Ah, I love it when we all get together like that,”  
Sorano huffed. “I can’t believe we were knocked out for so long that we missed out on hearing Eric purr.”  
Macbeth pouted. “I’m more concerned that I missed out on cuddling.”  
Lucy plopped onto her bed and opened her arms, laughing. “Aww, c’mere Macbeth. I know you’re always up for a nap.”  
Macbeth practically lunged at Lucy, diving onto her bed and letting his head fall on her lap while she stroked those delicate fingers of hers through his hair. Sawyer, shy as he was, worked up the courage to snuggle up on the bed with her, curling into her side once she laid down properly. Not Sorano, no, she fucking dive-bombed them and draped herself sideways over all three of them. Eric had to lift and move some people, but he scooted under the covers to spoon Lucy, and then she demanded that Richard come over and join in on the fun, so he came over and pretty much bear-hugged all of them. And really, it was a pretty great way to spend the day. Eric honestly hoped most of his days at Fairy Tail were like this. Because if they were, then he couldn’t imagine ever wanting to leave. And much to Sorano and Lucy's delight, Erik started to purr again when Lucy started running her fingers through his hair.


End file.
